One Word at a Time
by Evervescent
Summary: Upon his release from a prison sentence of fifty years, Inuyasha Takahashi scores himself a job working at a quiet bookstore. Little does he know that the girl who hired him can offer him more than he had ever hoped for.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: First of all, thank you anyone and everyone for giving this fic a chance — I hope you like the first chapter of my first fanfic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or its characters.

* * *

_Are you fucking serious?_

He wasn't as surprised as he should have been, to be honest. It wasn't as if fifty years would change society's views too much, and it wasn't as if he didn't know what was going on in the time that he was gone. He had just assumed there were more people who were more open-minded. Kind, pure, had a heart, perhaps?

Someone who didn't care, someone who never did care, doesn't, and never would.

But of course, people like that didn't exist in his world. His world was just black and white, where he was the hideous shade of grey in between that no one liked.

The whole time he tried to tell himself that someone would take him in, in the back of his mind he knew that he would get rejected from every single place he tried. The world was just like that.

A cold, narrow-minded, and cruel place that seemed to exist just to torture and laugh at him.

He should have known that his older brother wouldn't even consider showing him much sympathy past bringing him home. Or should he say, to his new home, because the aforementioned sibling refused to share a home with his so-called disgrace of a brother if he could help it.

It wasn't a terrible house — two floors, two bedrooms, and in a decent part of town, already furnished with basic necessities. His brother's excuse for not buying a vermin infested apartment in the middle of nowhere had been brief and uncaring.  
_  
"Doing so would further violate and bring shame to the family bloodline, half-breed."_

His dear ol' brother was probably growing soft on him, not like he would ever admit it.

Though the house itself had already been paid for, water bills, electricity bills, food, and everything else was up to him to pay. After checking his bank accounts, piggy banks, and pockets he found himself with scarcely five hundred thousand yen to his name. Knowing that the money wouldn't last him very long with the expenses he would have to make, he set out looking for a job.

Finding a decent job in Tokyo obviously wasn't going to be an easy thing — it was a busy city, the heart of Japan, where demons and humans alike constantly looked for jobs with better pay, less hours, and it wasn't an easy game.

Especially when no one even wanted to consider hiring you.

Sure, he had a lot of good qualities that could prove to be beneficial in lots of different fields. He had a Bachelor's and a Master's degree, exceptional physical and mental endurance, and could be quite the multitasker if he tried, the last two due to his demon blood.

His bad qualities, in comparison, stacked up much higher. He had a fiery short temper, little to no patience, and possessed no tact for talking to people. One might think that it was a result of the two different bloods flowing through his body, fighting each other.

His nose twitched and he sneezed as a smoker passed by him on the sidewalk. He earned himself a disgusted sneer from the smoker, and was promptly assaulted by another puff of the foul grey air that was purposefully blown into his face.

"How disgusting... a _hanyou._"

Though the words were muttered after the man had passed him by at least fifteen feet, two snowy white dog ears perched on top of his head twitched once and easily caught the words. Snorting to himself, he let the insult bounce off his person and continued walking down the sidewalk. Street lights were beginning to turn on as the day faded to night.

After asking at twelve different places hiring for a job he knew he qualified for and being turned down at each and every single one without a single glance, he knew the chances of him finding a job today — or any other day, for that matter — were basically slim to none. He was starting to wander into the quieter parts of Tokyo, where stores and businesses were scarce, but still present nonetheless. At this point, he was somewhat desperate; hopefully one of these shops was in need of some form of assistance he could offer.

Unfortunately for him, many stores were beginning to close. Owners stood out in front, locking doors and puling down metal safety gates before turning heel and walking ones that weren't didn't have signs requesting help up.

Passing an open hardware store, he shuddered as he remembered asking at a hardware store earlier in the morning for a job.

* * *

_A bright red and white 'Help Wanted' sign stood out in front of a large hardware store on the busy Tokyo street_.

_A hardware store was a place he could work at. He could handle all tools, and name a large variety of them. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door, wincing a little as the bell at the top of the door chimed loudly, signaling his entrance. _

_After passing through shelves and shelves of miscellaneous tools, nails, and saws, he sighed when he finally sighted a counter in the back, with a human man fiddling with some type of glue gun, muttering to himself as he tried to fix out whatever was wrong with the gun. _

_"Uh, excuse me?"_

_The cashier looked up at him in surprise, obviously not noticing his presence beforehand. He didn't miss the way the man's eyes quickly darted to his ears before going back to his face, and he pretended to ignore the scent of disgust and nervousness that suddenly emanated off of the human._

_"How can I help you?"_

_The words were spoken quick and sharp._

_"I noticed your sign outside, in the window. I'm lookin' for a job, and I was wondering if —"_

_The cashier seemed to stiffen suddenly and he swiftly cut him off. "I'm sorry, but we are currently not hiring."_

_A dark eyebrow was raised. "I saw your sign outside. Look, I know you might not want someone like me on staff, but I can—"_

_"Oh, that sign? Was out ages ago, we simply forgot to take it down. I... apologize for any inconvenience."_

_He fixed the cashier with an intimidating gaze, obviously angry at having such an obvious lie thrown to his face._

_"Oh no, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it at all..."_

_Narrowing his flashing eyes at the human, he smirked when he noticed the spike in fear in his scent. He smacked his hand on the counter and turned away to leave._

_If there as one thing he could thank his demon heritage for, it was the ability to scare the shit out of people._

_On his way out, he heard the door open and a human walked into the store, heading for the back._

_Just before he left, he managed to catch the beginnings of a conversation._

_"Hi, I'm here to ask about the job? I saw your 'Help Wanted' sign outside."_

_"Of course, sir, right this way..."_

_If there was one thing he hated his demon heritage for, it was the fact he was cursed with the unlucky capability to hear things he didn't want to._

* * *

It was almost eight o'clock now, and all the stores on the block had been closed. Stores had decided to close earlier, it seemed, as cold weather began to sweep the nation. It was only mid October, but frozen winds were already creeping in on the country.

He stuck his hands in his jacket pocket with a sigh. Well, if these were the last stores open, then—

He stopped. A rather dim light emanated from the corner of the block. Curious, he sped up his steps, walking eagerly along the street until he hit the corner.

A store!

Looking up, he read the sign. _Shikon, _it said. Inside the store, he could see clearly it was a bookstore. Rows and rows of books of all sizes. It may not have been his forte, and the store may not have had a sign up saying they were hiring, but it was definitely worth a shot. He'd gone into stores before that didn't say they were hiring to inquire.

Frankly, he just didn't feel like doing this all over again in another part of Tokyo tomorrow.

Pulling open the door, he was relieved when no annoying jangling of bells or chimes hit his sensitive ears. He could scent only one person in the store, a woman on the second floor who obviously hadn't noticed him come in.

_What a stupid girl, she's lucky I'm not a damn thief.  
_

Shaking his head at the girl's stupidity, he gazed around the store. There were two floors— the second floor overlooked the first from all sides of the building, with bookcases in a single line pressed back against the walls. A long staircase in the corner led down to the first floor, near a small alcove with a few beanbags chairs and recliners and an unlit fireplace. The rest of the floor consisted of bookshelves and tables as far as he could see. For such an impressively large and well maintained store, he would have expected more customers and a few employees, even at this hour.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I hadn't noticed anybody had come in."

He turned his gaze to the young woman rushing down the wooden stairs. She was young, probably a few years less than himself. She had long dark hair which flowed behind her as she hurried towards him and large brown eyes that should have been ordinary, but instead were so unique his breath hitched in his throat as they made eye contact. He saw her lips move, but his brain barely registered the words coming out of her mouth.

For a human, she sure was pretty.

"Uh, sir?"

He quickly shook himself out of his reverie. The girl smiled shyly at him and giggled at what was probably the very dumb look on his face.

"...Could you repeat that?"

The girl grinned, and her white teeth were practically blinding. "How may I help you?"

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Right, uh..." He gruffly cleared his throat before continuing. "I was wondering if you were looking to hire? I know you didn't have a sign out, but I—"

The girl smacked herself on the forehead. "Oh, the sign! I knew I had forgotten something. You must be psychic, I've been needing an extra hand around here! Oh, thank you, _thank you_!"

He stared a little dumbfounded at her. He hadn't been sure what he had expected, but it sure as hell wasn't this.

Wasn't she going to turn him away? Maybe she hadn't realized yet, or maybe she was more sheltered than she looked. After all, she was alone in a bookstore in the corner of nowhere.

He watched her dance around the store a little before she seemed to regain her sanity and situated herself in front of him again, looking up at him and sticking her hand out.

"Sorry for not introducing myself before! I'm Kagome Higurashi, the owner of the bookstore. What's yours?"

Regarding the strange woman before him cautiously, he slowly reached out his hand to take hers and gave it a light shake.

"Inuyasha Takahashi."

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Feel free to review and leave any comments/criticisms.

Also, I noticed a little last minute that I had made a mistake mentioning Miroku — how can they be best friends if Inuyasha was in jail for half a century? Can't have that lech being an old geezer, now, can we?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter two! Thank you SO much, anyone and everyone who viewed, reviewed, followed, and favorite'd my story! It really did make my day, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or _A Dark Night's Passing_.

* * *

Inuyasha wasn't entirely sure as to what he was expecting when he walked into _Shikon. _Rejection, yes. Disgust and disapproval, yes. But had he ever anticipated such casual acceptance? After all, a young woman who ran a giant bookstore alone and kept it open when most other stores closed couldn't be ordinary, right?

And the store and Kagome themselves just seemed to radiate warmth and comfort. Two things which he had not felt in ages, it seemed.

_Well, it HAS been half a century, Takahashi. To some humans, that's a whole lifetime._

He looked at Kagome, who most certainly was not fifty years old, or anywhere near the age, most likely still in her twenties. The way she skipped around the store and smiled so brightly made her appear years younger in his eyes, however.

"Well Takahashi-san, I hope you didn't come to just inquire about a job, because I would love to conduct an interview with you right now!" At Inuyasha's surprised look, she hastily continued. "Nothing fancy or highly official — this _is _just a bookstore after all. Unless you don't know what a book is, I'm pretty sure you'll do fine." She grinned brightly at him.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "I guess an interview now would be fine. And it's just Inuyasha, none of that Takahashi-san stuff."

If possible, Kagome's smile grew. "Alright, Inuyasha. Then you can just refer to me as Kagome!" She laughed and began walking towards the front door. "See? We're already comfortable with each other. I might as well just give you the job right now!" Flipping the sign on the door from "Open" to "Closed", she turned and winked at him. "We can't exactly have people trying to shop while I'm conducting an interview, can we?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but she seemed to guess what he was about to say. "Don't worry, it's almost closing time anyway. Besides, I doubt anyone is going to come in now." She ducked behind the front counter and popped back out with clipboard and a pen. She gestured to the small alcove in the store and followed him as he walked in front of her.

Inuyasha was about to plop himself onto the floor when he froze. He couldn't act so casual and uncaring if he wanted a job now. Keeping a mental note to be professional and at least somewhat respectful, he slowly settled himself into a large brown recliner by the fireplace. His potential boss gave him a curious look before dropping down in the recliner opposite him.

"So, Inuyasha, have you brought a resume with you?"

He almost choked. A resume? He had no job experience, save for a few hours of volunteer work he had done at a library when he was in high school. He hadn't even thought of making a resume, and it wasn't as if any other store he'd looked into asked for one. They took one look at his ears and dismissed him. The one place where he was given a chance, and he didn't bring a freaking resume.

He lowered his head before gruffly answering. "No, I don't."

"Oh."

He winced and waited for her dismissal of him.

"Well that's alright."

His ears were broken. They got ripped off his head and flung far, far away, because for a second, it seemed like the girl was giving him yet _another _chance.

"Wait, what?"

Kagome shrugged sheepishly and offered a tentative smile. "Well, it's a job at a bookstore. Its not like I need to know what kinds of experience you've had before or any of that jazz. I'd rather just get to know you. Can't have a deranged book-hater working here, you know?"

Was he gaping? He couldn't feel his fangs on his lips anymore.

"You might want to close your mouth, or it'll get stuck that way."

That answered that question.

"So, I guess I'll just be interviewing you. Just the basic questions, so don't stress too much."

Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha looked her straight in the eye and nodded. "I'm ready."

With the edges of her mouth twitching upwards, Kagome looked down at her clipboard and clicked open the pen. "Well, I already know your name... you don't have a middle name, do you?"

"No."

"Alright..." She scribbled down his name, _Inuyasha Takahashi, _at the top of her clipboard. He leaned forward a little, and his sharp eyes managed to see his name being written. Her handwriting was pretty — there wasn't another word for it. Neat, but at the same time artsy and pristine. She dotted her _i's _with small circles, he noted. The 'i' at the end of his last name was the perfect outline of a circle.

He managed to catch himself and looked up before she noticed him.

"Okay, Inuyasha. How old are you?"

"..."

"Inuyasha?"

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, uh, it's just that there's two answers. In demon years, and in human years, so..."

"Oh." Kagome furrowed her brow. She hadn't thought of that. Of course she knew that demons aged at a much slower ace than humans, but she hadn't been focusing on it at the time.

"Well, why don't you give me in humans years, then? It'll just be easier for me to comprehend seeing a double digit number on my paper than something in the hundreds or thousands, okay?"

He grunted and gave her a shrug. "Sure. I'm... 27."

"27? You don't sound too sure."

"I'm not."

Kagome gave him a disbelieving look, but reluctantly wrote down his age either way. "What makes you think you'd be a good candidate for working here?"

_Nothing. I just need a job._

"Uh, I used to volunteer at a library?"

That's right! He had worked at a library — this was a bookstore. Close enough, right?

"Really? Which library?" She couldn't sound more excited if she tried. Kagome must have really loved her books.

"The Tokyo Institute of Technology Library. I know the Nippon Decimal Classification and how to use microfiche."

Kagome smiled at him, her eyes sparkling as though she'd just stumbled upon the pot of gold at the end of a double rainbow. "You're more experienced in this than I thought! We don't use the NDC in bookstores, that's mostly for libraries, since we are going to be selling books, not lending them out. But we do have a microfiche machine, and it's wonderful if you already know how to use it!"

She gestured to an old looking computer-like machine on a table in the corner. There were some filing cabinets stacked up next to it, no doubt holding the microfilms in them. It looked virtually untouched.

"It's not the most... _popular _part of the store, but people will use it sometimes. Besides, I can't bear to part with it. It's been a part of this store since it opened."

He smiled. After fifty years, he expected such old forms of technology to be replaced by all the fancy tablets and laptops. Being stuck in jail didn't mean he was completely clueless. He got newspapers sometimes, access to computers occasionally, and read up on the changing modern world. He was partially disgusted at how much humans seemed to rely on the technology, but after trying some himself, grudging accepted that it was "neat" and left it alone.

"Keh, people these days don't even know what microfiche is. They're too wrapped up with their stupid phones — it's a good thing you still have that dinosaur lying around."

She agreed with a nod of her head. "Sure is." Kagome continued scribbling away on her clipboard. "What's your favorite book?"

_Okay... didn't see that one coming._ He couldn't stop the response from slipping out of his mouth. "Really?"

He looked so taken aback and surprised that she couldn't help but laugh. "I hope you didn't expect this interview to be so formal. This is a bookstore, and I'm rather curious. Don't worry, there's no right or wrong answer."

A little more reassured that this question was more for her sake than for the application, he barely had to think. He rather enjoyed reading. Something he inherited from his mother was her love of literature. His answer rolled off his tongue.

"A Dark Night's Passing."

Kagome's eyes seemed to light up. "Ohhh, that book was wonderful! Naoya Shiga had such great perspective on Kensaku, he wrote it like he himself was the character."

The rest of Inuyasha' interview was quick — the basic questions were asked, with a few odd ones pertaining to literature and books asked.

That was, until they came to the question he had been dreading.

"Do you have a criminal record?"

He refused to meet her eyes, focusing his eyes on a small piece of lint on his pants. "Yes."

It was barely audible; it wasn't whispered, but almost choked out in a low voice.

"Was that a yes?"

Did she seriously not hear him, or was she just mocking him?

Inuyasha cleared his throat and raised his voice the slightest bit. "Yes."

His closed his eyes, waiting for the immediate dismissal that was sure to follow.

"Alright then. At least you're honest about it."

His head shot up, eyes as wide as could be, no matter how hard he tried to mask his surprise. He couldn't catch her facial expression because she her head was ducked as she scribbled on her clipboard.

When she finished though, he saw the very expression on her face.

It was the same. The same as it had been the rest of the day. Smile-y, slightly tired, and optimistic.

Did she not get the meaning of the word "yes"?

Either she assumed whatever crime he committed was something was something small, like shoplifting, or she was really desperate for some help in her shop.

It had to be one of those two.

"I apologize for this, but I'm afraid I have to ask what it was."

And he was sorry she'd be afraid of him after his answer.

He steeled himself to answer her question and forced himself to meet her eyes.

"Fifty years ago, I was accused of murdering my girlfriend."

He dared her to judge him— dared her to kick him out of her bookstore. He'd laugh, say he knew it, and never look back.

"Fifty years ago? How is that even— oh yeah, it's the demon blood, right?"

There was no way his ears weren't broken now. They had to be. There was no other way he would have heard what she had just said now. Unless it was all a dream, and he hadn't even started looking for a job yet because the day had never started.

More scribbling. More perfect circles dotting i's and more near, slightly slanted printed words forming on her paper.

He couldn't take it anymore.

"What in all the seven hells is _wrong _with you?!"

Kagome jumped at the sudden loud shout coming from the interviewee, fumbling for her clipboard after she lost her grasp on it.

"What do you mean, what's wrong with me?"

"I mean—" Inuyasha jumped up and pointed an accusing finger down at her. "I mean what's wrong with you? You're giving a half-breed a shot at a job, and it doesn't even seem like you give two shits that I'm a MURDERER!"

She could only stare at him in shock.

"I..."

She stood up and walked over to a table in a father corner of her store. She opened up a metal filing cabinet and began to leaf through its contents. Inuyasha just watched her, his breathing heavily from his latest outburst. He watched as Kagome settled on a paper, pulled it out of the cabinet, and walked back over to him.

"Here."

..._Inuyasha Takahashi..._

The first thing he noticed was his name in bold, part of the large headline on the front page of the newspaper he was holding.

..._charged for the murder of high priestess Kikyo..._

There it was. In black and white— a newspaper from half a century ago.

Fifty years ago, when he had allegedly murdered Kikyo.

..._he pleaded innocent..._

He had never actually seen the newspapers from that day, the claims they had made about him, or against him.

Suddenly, he was fifty years back in the past. He could see Kikyo's body on the stretcher, the doctors saying there was little to no chance of her making it, the onlookers throwing his accusatory glances and hateful sneers. But Kikyo's expression was the only thing that seemed to matter.

Her mouth was open, but only partway. She was pale, she looked already dead.

And her eyes. They were angry. Upset, haunted, lifeless.

Betrayed.

A small finger was tapping the newspaper, jolting him out of his temporary shock.

"I saw the news a few days ago. Your jail release was on it. I knew you looked familiar to me."

He continued to stare down at the paper. "Why do you have...?"

She offered him a sad smile. "I know this store inside and out, including the archives. Finding this was just a quick memory check."

"What does this have to do with—"

Kagome took the newspaper back, folding it neatly and tucking it back into her box of archives. "If you thought you were innocent, then you were, right? Who can tell you otherwise?"

His hands still held the position of holding the paper. Realizing he must look like an idiot, he shook himself out of his reverie.

"Keh! Apparently the police." He adjusted his rather enormous red haori-like jacket and started towards the door. "Look, I don't need reminding, I'll just be on—"

"I never said you didn't get the job."

He froze and looked back at the girl. "...What?"

"Well, I sure hope I didn't. You seem like a great candidate and sound like you know your way around books. How'd you like the job?"

He shut his mouth, deathly afraid he'd say something that might not get him the job. He opted for nodding instead.

"Yay!" Kagome bounced over and shook his hand enthusiastically. "Welcome to _Shikon_, Inuyasha Takahashi! It's going to be a pleasure to have you here."

His hand opened in an almost automatic reflex as he attempted to curl his claws away from her delicate flesh without seeming rude. Luckily for him, she was looking at his face rather than their hands.

Though he had on only a faint smile on the outside, inside he was almost fainting from relief.

It appeared as though he had met someone who liked the color grey.

* * *

A/N: I sincerely hope you liked this chapter. I was afraid I rushed the ending, so please tell me your ideas!

Also, I want to mention that Kagome's handwriting was inspired by a font called British Quest, which does not belong to me, but to Jonathan Harris.

I had a lot of fun researching Japanese literature until I found a book I thought Inuyasha might like. _A Dark Night's Passing_ seemed really interesting.

I want this story to be as realistically accurate as possible. Yes, the Nippon Decimal Classification system really does exist. It's Japan's version of the Dewey Decimal System used in the USA.

I'd like to point out Japan does use microfiche (microfilm), but also something called _shukusatsuban_, but I couldn't find much information on it, so I decided not to mention it in my story.

Again, thank you everyone for your views, comments, and if you fave or follow this story!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N/: Hey guys! I hope this didn't take too long to update— here's the third chapter!

Disclaimer: I could lie, say I'm Rumiko Takahashi. But I'm not. Therefore, I do not own Inuyasha.

* * *

Mornings were not his thing.

He couldn't imagine how they were anyone's 'thing'. It was a wretched feeling, being jostled out of a peaceful sleep by a loud ringing, especially with ears like his. His sensitive little dog ears flattened themselves into his thick argenteous hair. He groaned and rolled over, shoving his face into his pillow. He was enjoying his dreamless sleep until that godforsaken alarm clock jolted him right out of it. Why had he set an alarm clock in the first place? It wasn't as if he had to go to school or work or anything...

_Work!_

He cursed loudly and stared at his alarm clock. It was six in the morning, not a natural waking time for him. However, Kagome insisted he get to work about an hour and a half before the store opened like she did, so they could clean up and get the store into shape. She had assigned him the same hours she worked, which meant every day the store was open, he was there, working all day long until it closed.

It wasn't much of a problem, honestly. She said he got a lunch break, and any day the store was open late, a dinner break as well. His demon blood allowed him to not get as tired as a normal human, and he doubted working in a bookstore would be fatiguing anyway.

He was surprised by his pay. It was a considerably larger amount than he had expected— about twenty-two hundred yen per hour, if he remembered correctly. He supposed she was being generous since he was the only other worker at her store. He knew she wasn't splitting all her profits with him fifty-fifty, of course, but it was much higher than minimum wage.

She asked that he be in the store by seven thirty, since _Shikon_ opened at nine that day. He figured that he could give himself an hour and a half to get ready and go to the store. It wasn't as if showering, eating, and getting dressed took forever.

A shower and two cups of ramen later, he was regretting his former words,

What the hell do you wear to a bookstore?

He remembered Kagome was wearing nice clothes — not business casual nice, just... nice. A simple looking skirt and button down top that matched. Casual, but not sweatshirt-and-jeans casual.

He looked at the time on his clock and cussed. Grabbing his cleanest looking pair of jeans and red button down shirt, he threw them on and was out the door.

He took to the high rooftops, leaping off the middles of buildings as quickly as he could, more for the sake of not being seen rather than being late. He could make it to her store with time to spare — he'd just rather not have anyone look at him while he did it.

He missed this feeling of freedom he got when he was near flight, soaring above high rises and everybody's heads. It felt even better after fifty years of not being able to.

He dropped to the ground soundlessly right beside Kagome, who was standing in front of _Shikon, _fumbling around in her pocketbook for the keys. She started violently at the hanyou's sudden appearance.

"Keh, that scared you?"

Kagome put a hand over her heart and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, it's not everyday someone casually drops out of the sky. I'm glad to see you're right on time, Inuyasha!"

He snorted. "Not gonna be late— it's my first day on the job."

She smiled at him and unlocked the door. They both stepped inside, and Kagome locked the door behind them, explaining that she would unlock them when the store officially opened later. Inuyasha followed her behind the wooden counter and into the storage room behind it.

"This is where we keep all our shipments when they're delivered, so if we ever get a delivery, make sure you have them bring the boxes back in here. If it's locked, there should be a key behind the counter," Kagome explained, gesturing to the many boxes in the room behind her and a small drawer on the back of the counter.

"Got it."

"So yesterday, we got a whole bunch of new shipments, and I only managed to tag them with their prices. What you and I have to do now is put them onto the shelves. All the shelves should be clearly labeled by genre, and each genre is sorted in alphabetical order by the authors last name, like they do in the libraries. Sound familiar?"

Inuyasha nodded. The bookstore was quite like the library he had worked in, just not as large and had a slightly different system.

"So do you think you've got it down?" She received another silent nod.

"Whoa, control your excitement," she drawled sarcastically. "Alright, the boxes are heavy, so just grab one at a time and start..." She trailed off as she watched Inuyasha stack four boxes into his arms and walk out of the storage room.

"Show off," she grumbled as she grabbed her own box labeled 'biographies' and headed for the back section of the store where the biographies were shelved.

"I heard that." Kagome's head shot up, staring at hew new employee who was already on the second floor with a box open, neatly sliding them into their appropriate places. Shaking her head in amazement, she opened up her own box and began on her work.

After she finished each box, she went back into the storage room for a new one. There were many boxes stacked up in no particular order. Normally, it would have taken her days to finish stocking the books, and during those days she would get more shipments. But with Inuyasha's help, who worked almost triple her speed, they had nearly finished the contents of the storage room, with only five or six more boxes left to go.

At nine o'clock sharp, Kagome grabbed her keys and unlocked the door, pushing it wide open and holding it in place with the door stopper. "Now we just wait for the customers. I'll man the register, but I'd like you to just hang around and help anyone with anything they might need, alright? If anyone has a question you can't answer, come to me."

"Got it." Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and stalked away from the counter. _For a first day on a new job, it's a hell of a lot easier than I thought it'd be._

Kagome smiled at his retreating form.

* * *

Their first customer that morning entered about ten minutes after they opened. She practically danced in on her dangerously high stilettos. She wore what Kagome could only call 'business sexual', with a rather low V-neck top and short clingy skirt. Her black gloves were holstered by her middle fingers, and her eyes were an unnatural magenta hue, giving away her identity as a demon.

She sauntered up to Kagome and grinned, revealing her sharp white fangs. "Hello dear. Could you help me find a book?"

Kagome pointed to Inuyasha, who was watching them from the second floor. "You can ask him, up there." The scantily clad woman nodded her thanks and turned to look up at him. She gasped loudly, her hands coming up to her mouth.

Kagome watched the woman with worry. "Are you alright? What happened?" The woman shakily pointed at Inuyasha.

"Oh, his HAIR!"

Well, Kagome wasn't expecting that.

With a delicate flying leap, the demon soared onto the second floor, right next to Inuyasha. "Oh, what lovely hair! Such a pretty silver color. It's not even dyed, you can tell."

Inuyasha's eye twitched. He looked very uncomfortable, and Kagome had to stifle a giggle at his rather dumbstruck expression. "Can I help you?"

"No, but you can let me help you. Such pretty hair, but you haven't taken care of it, have you? There's so many split ends..."

"W-what?" Inuyasha fervently tugged his hair out of her grasp and backed away. "Isn't there a book I can help you find or something?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, yes there is. Now what was it called?" The woman tapped her bright red lips carefully in thought, before rooting around in her small purse. "Aha!"

She handed a slip of paper she had fished out of her purse to Inuyasha. His eyes scanned it quickly and he raised an eyebrow. "_Nihongami no Sekai: Maiko no Kamigata_?" He opened his mouth to comment, but decided against it and quickly snapped his lips closed. "That should be this way."

* * *

Kagome watched them carefully from her place behind the counter, keeping an eye on her new employee as he led the demoness down the stairs and into the informational section in a back corner of the store. The woman's book choice wasn't very odd, compared to what some other customers bought. It was surprising, the number of people who had not-so-subtly commented that they would have liked an 'adult' section in the store. Kagome wasn't usually one to judge, but if she had to, she would have pegged this customer to be one of those commenters.

Inuyasha scrolled faster than she could follow through the books before plucking one off the shelf and dropping it into the girls hands. She watched as his ears swiveled on his head and then towards the door. Kagome followed and was surprised to see that someone was indeed coming in through the door.

He wasn't very tall, and he was quite obviously a demon. He had a very irregularly shaped bald head, with two or three lone strands sticking out of the very top. Kagome knew him— he had come into _Shikon _many times before looking for books, usually about hair growth and repair.

"Hi, Manten!" Kagome said, waving cheerfully at the newest arrival. "If you're looking for what I think you're looking for, I'm sorry to say we don't have any new books for you yet. They're backed up on the order list, I'm sorry. Try again next week, huh?"

Manten grunted. "Fine, fine. I'll be back then." He turned and was about to walk back out when he suddenly stopped. His large snout went higher into the air and he sniffed loudly. "Is that a... hair demon?"

_A hair demon? _Kagome thought. She glanced over at the woman who was now on her way towards the counter, presumably to buy her book. She stopped short, her face twisting up in disgust and annoyance as she spotted Manten.

"Oh, Yuraaa!

"Good lord, what are _you_ doing here?"

Manten turned towards Kagome, his beady eyes sparkling. "Higurashi-san, your bookstore is truly a magical place, for it has brought me the one thing my heart has sought."

The demoness, Yura, rolled her eyes and leaned on the counter, tilting her head towards Kagome. "He's been hitting on me for weeks, and begging me to give him some hair, or a wig, or something like that. Can you believe him?"

"Uhhh...?"

"But Miss Yuraaa!" Manten whined. "Please, I'll do anything for you. Just one date, and a little bit of hair!"

"So not worth it. And I can't make hair _grow, _dolt," Yura scoffed as she pulled money out of her dainty purse and handed it to Kagome for her book. Kagome packed it into a pink paper bag with the store's name on it, listening to the banter as she did. She looked up and spotted Inuyasha back on the balcony, perched on the railing with his legs dangling over the side, looking amused at the interaction between the two demons below him. Kagome raised an eyebrow at him and he seemed to startle, immediately swinging off his position from the and landing on the second floor's ground, acting like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed. She waved her hand dismissively at Inuyasha, trying to tell him that she didn't care, but he didn't seem to notice as he leaned against the bookshelf with his arms crossed instead of taking his former position.

"Thank you," Yura gritted out between her teeth as she snatched the bag from Kagome and practically fled the store, with Manten running pitifully behind her.

"But Yuraaa...!"

Though using youki-powered attacks were common in Tokyo, Kagome was still surprised when Yura lashed out and knocked Manten off his feet with a few strong strings of hair that appeared seemingly out of nowhere right outside the store.

Kagome watched in concern before turning to look up at Inuyasha. "Should we do something?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Nah, they'll be fine." He gestured towards the window, where Manten was brushing himself off and pursuing Yura once again as she took off.

They watched the two demons until they disappeared out of sight.

* * *

The clock struck one o'clock in the afternoon, and Kagome yawned. After Yura and Manten's exit, the store had slowly filled with more and more customers. It wasn't as busy as the Ginza or anything, but they had a very fair amount of customers, and even though they were only halfway through their day, Kagome needed a break.

The craziness has slowly wound down, and the last customer was ringing up her copy of _The Tales of Genji_. Kagome handed her the change with a smile. "Have a nice day!" They waved to each other.

As soon as she had left, Kagome ran to the sign on the front door and flipped the sign to 'Closed'. "Inuyasha!" she called out. The half demon was by her side in an instant, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

Kagome 'eeped'. "You have got to stop doing that!" He grunted, but made no further comment.

"Anyways, we have a lull in business. Want to come grab lunch with me? I'm starving; you must be too!"

Inuyasha vehemently shook his head. "I'll stay here and watch the place."

She shot him an incredulous look. "It'll be locked and the lights will be off. No worries, Inuyasha. Nothing has ever happened before, and it won't happen now." She grabbed her purse and keys from off of the counter and looked at him. "Come on, let's go."

"Nah, really. I'm not hungry." He refused to meet her eyes. He knew he sounded suspicious to Kagome, but he just couldn't go.

"Inuyasha." Kagome's forehead creased as she tried to figure out why her new employee wouldn't go. "Look, it's not that I don't trust you in here alone or anything. I just thought it might be easier on both of us if we took our lunch break together."

He didn't reply, but adamantly crossed his arms. Kagome gave him a once-over. He hadn't come in with a bag or anything of the sort, and he didn't seem to have a wallet on him.

"Did you forget your money?"

_...Crap._

He wished he didn't feel so stupid about a little thing, but he did. He'd be damned if he let a girl pay for him. He may have his quirks, but his mother had taught him to treat a lady, not the other way around.

"Keh, so what if I did? Not hungry anyway."

Kagome huffed. Why were guys always so prideful? Was there some sort of rule in the guy handbook that forbade girls to pay for them?

"Well, you're coming anyways. It's your first day of working here— let's celebrate!" When she saw he still made no move to follow, he let out an exasperated sigh. Seizing him by the wrist, she pulled him out the doorway, and locked the door behind her.

* * *

Inuyasha was a little too stunned to speak as his new boss pulled him out of _Shikon _and onto the sidewalk. The air was brisk, and the sun dimly shone through the clouds. It wasn't a gorgeous day, but it wasn't gloomy either. It was neutral— just how he liked it.

He watched silently as Kagome closed and locked the door. "Look, I heard there's this wonderful Tibetan place that opened just a few blocks down. I've been dying to try it, but I wouldn't have gone alone. You'll be doing me a favor! Does that make you feel better?"

Inuyasha didn't say a word and wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Okay, how about 'I'm your boss and you have to do what I say?'"

He sent a withering glance her way.

"Eh, you're coming either way. " She gave him a push towards the general direction they were headed, and then began walking beside him. Knowing she had won, Inuyasha followed.

It wasn't a very large restaurant, but a wonderful venue nonetheless. Kagome had ordered from them both, since Inuyasha kept mostly silent through their whole trip. Halfway through their meal, she attempted to make light conversation, but he evaded most of her questions or ignored them altogether.

Their server obviously had some issues with Inuyasha, what with all the not-so-conspicuous glances directed at him.

Both Kagome and Inuyasha noticed. Neither commented.

But Inuyasha did not miss Kagome 'forgetting' to tip their waiter as she paid the bill.

He still said nothing.

* * *

A/N: I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Just a few notes—

1\. Argenteous - silvery

2\. Also, Inuyasha's wage is approx. 17.00 USD. The amount of research I had to do about wages in Japan was overwhelming, so I sort of took a gander at how much he'd get paid. Mind you, 2200 yen is well above Japan's minimum wage, and from what I can tell, something Inuyasha can live on if he's alone.

3\. I understand the job process is probably really far off how one in real life would go, but that's what I'm aiming for. I'm trying to show that Kagome doesn't really have any experience hiring workers, and Inuyasha doesn't have experience applying for a job, and that they kinda reached some unspoken compromise to wing it. If this is much too casual or unrealistic, please inform me and help me make it better!

4\. I'm planning on introducing Sesshomaru in either the next chapter, or a chapter very soon. I want your guys' opinions— would you rather have him and Rin as a couple, or a father/daughter relationship? I don't mind either relationship, and I honestly can't think which would better suit this story. Thoughts?

Thanks again everyone! All my reviewers, followers, and people who fave'd me are AMAZING.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry if this update is late, but I am telling you right now, **updates will be coming slower.** That's because school started, and there's a lot of work, guys! So, I'm very sorry if chapter come out late, but I won't be leaving this story anytime soon! If I take too long, feel free to come yell at me, slap me in the face, or whatever else it is you people do.

Disclaimer: As I said above, I go to school. Now, would I be doing that if I owned Inuyasha and friends?

* * *

Kagome found the store's productivity increased dramatically with Inuyasha's help. She didn't have to run back and forth from each customer and keep an eye on the cash register and door at the same time. Granted, there was next to none crime in the area, but one could never be so sure.

Inuyasha could have told her how many people were in the store at one time, she was almost positive. He always knew when someone would come in or leave, even if he was all the way on the second floor balcony, which he seemed to favor as opposed to the first floor. Not that Kagome minded. From the second floor, one could see the entirety of the store, giving them a birds eye view of people weaving between the high bookshelves.

From what she could tell, he seemed to be entirely content with what she had assigned him with, which was basically doing whatever she couldn't at a given moment. She was immensely glad he didn't ask too many question about his position. Kagome wasn't entirely sure that she could answer him— all she needed was a helping hand around the store, and that was exactly what she had received.

It had been a long and busy day. The two of them had come back from lunch to find people waiting outside the store, and an endless stream of customers seemed to follow.

Needless to say, by the end of the day, they were both exhausted. More so Kagome than Inuyasha, but exhausted nonetheless.

Kagome puffed out a tired breath and slumped against the counter. "Oh geez. What a day that was. I wonder why so many people were buying books today?"

She received only a shrug in response. "You're a pretty quiet person, aren't you? All those years at the library rub off on you?" She laughed a little at her own joke, but it quickly died down when she saw Inuyasha give no response.

"Well, it's nearing closing time, so I guess we should be going." She ducked behind the front counter, taking her purse and sweater out with her. Inuyasha's eyes watched her every move, and although she tried not to notice, it was rather hard not to.

"It's getting dark out." She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound of his voice. "You live far?"

"No, only about three blocks. You know the Higurashi Shrine?" Inuyasha nodded. "That's my family's place! So don't worry— but thank you for the offer!"

"Keh, no need." Kagome turned to find him staring off, that stubborn look back on his face.

"Do you live far?" Inuyasha shook his head.

"It's just about a quarter mile in the opposite direction of where you live."

"Good to know you're not traveling any crazy distances to get here. Wouldn't want to make you jump provinces or anything," Kagome said with a laugh.

Once she figured that he probably wouldn't be saying much for the rest of the night, she quickly donned her sweater to protect her from the chilly autumn winds. She opened the door and walked it, holding it behind her so Inuyasha could exit as well. Once they were both outside, she closed and locked the door. With a smile and wave, Kagome waved Inuyasha off.

He watched her until she disappeared from sight.

* * *

The first person to enter _Shikon _the next day was probably the last person on Earth Inuyasha would have guessed.

"What the hell are you doing here, asshole?" Inuyasha snarled at the man entering the store. He had scented him far before he came within proximity of the store, but was hoping he just happened to be passing by.

The man completely ignored Inuyasha, instead walking right up to Kagome. He tipped his head forward in the slightest. "Higurashi-san."

In response, Kagome smiled widely, bowing deeply before standing up straight again. "So nice to see you again, Sesshomaru-sama!" She stepped back from the counter, opening her mouth to speak, but stopped short. She glanced back and forth between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. "Are you two related or something?"

Inuyasha continued to glare his brother down. Or at least, attempted to do so. Sesshomaru answered her question after seeing Inuyasha was not about to do so.

"He is my half-brother."

"Ohhh." Kagome mentally slapped herself. She should have guessed, what with the same silver hair and golden eyes. Demon's with strange color features were very common, but similar colors tended to be of the same blood.

"Kagome," Inuyasha began. "How the hell do you guys know each other?"

Kagome looked mildly surprised. "Don't you know? Tokyo's part of Kanto's western region, which your brother owns. So technically, he kinda owns the land my store is on, too."

Inuyasha shrugged. "I knew that. But what the hell's he doing here?"

She smiled and quickly held up one finger, signaling her brief departure. She ran into the back room and came out with a large book, which she promptly handed to Inuyasha's brother.

"He comes in sometimes for books he needs. He orders them through this store since it's easier for us to find it." Sesshomaru nodded once.

"So, little brother. You have actually managed to find yourself a decent job."

"What's that supposed to mean, asshole?"

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at Kagome. "You hired him?" She responded with a dumbfounded look. "Well, why wouldn't I?"

"I can think of several reasons." He quickly dodged a blow intended for him by his younger brother. "Inuyasha. To think you would fight in front of your new boss."

He froze and quickly glanced at Kagome, who looked more amused than angry. "It's alright, as long as you two don't actually start something." She flashed a smile at her landlord. "Was that all, Sesshomaru-sama? No orders to place?"

Sesshomaru shook his head. "That will be all." He turned to leave. "I will see you around then, little brother."

"Ain't ya gonna pay her, idiot?" Inuyasha shouted after the retreating form of his brother. Sesshomaru said nothing and briskly left the store. Inuyasha turned to Kagome. "Aren't you going to make him—"

Kagome cut him off with a laugh. "Of course not! He technically owns the store, or at the least the land it's on. It's because of him this place is so safe; he scares everybody off. Plus I've known him since I was little. The least I could do is give him the books he needs free of charge."

"You went near that monster when you were a kid?!"

"Oh, he's not a monster. Don't hate on your brother so much, Inuyasha." Kagome walked around the counter to close the storage room door. "And yeah, he would stop by the shrine a lot. Mostly to talk to my mother and grandfather. Now he comes by to get books for himself and Rin."

Inuyasha tilted his head to the side in confusion. Rin? Who the hell was that?

"Who's Rin? Sesshomaru doesn't date."

Kagome looked surprised. "He hasn't told you? Or rather, you haven't seen her?"

"I don't think so?"

"Oh." Kagome said, frowning. "I don't know much about her, but a year or two ago he adopted this little girl named Rin. Never did get the details, but I gather she's very sweet and likes flowers. He's always getting flower books for her."

"Wait a second..." Inuyasha looked somewhere between confused and horrified. "So _my _brother— that self-righteous jerk with a sword shoved up his ass—"

"Inuyasha!"

"Feh! Anyways, that same guy adopted a little girl? What, is she crazy powerful or got some magical heirloom he wants to inherit?"

"Well actually, she's just an orphaned human girl."

"Human?!" Inuyasha bared his fangs. "Sesshomaru took in a _human girl_... willingly?" Inuyasha gritted his teeth. So, his brother would sooner call a stray human child his family than his own brother.

Not like he cared or anything.

"Keh. Guess I've got something to hold over his head now. He's always hated humans— how's he gonna explain this?"

Kagome pouted. "Hey, he doesn't hate me. I think..."

* * *

Inuyasha was doing his best to not laugh out loud at their latest arrival. A young human man with a short ponytail was currently saving himself from tripping over the store's threshold after he had slipped on who-knows-what on the way in.

He hopped towards the counter, keeping most of his weight off of his left leg which he had obviously hurt on his way in. "Ah, hello."

He received a kind smile in return from the store's owner. "Hello, sir. Are you alright? Would you like something for your ankle? We have bandages and ice here."

"Oh no, no," the man said, waving his hands. "I'll be perfectly fine. Say, do you take special orders for books here? I'd like to place one."

"Of course we do!" Ducking under the counter where Kagome seemed to have an endless supply of random items, she emerged with a yellow notepad and a pen. "Here, just write your name and for what book, and any special requests."

"Can you get autographed books?" The man sounded rather desperate.

"Well of the author isn't far nor dead, we sure can try." Inuyasha almost guffawed at Kagome's response.

"Oh thank you!" Nobunaga Amari, it seemed his name was as he scribbled it down, almost melted in obvious relief. "Here, it's this book—" He proceeded to lavish Kagome with details that she probably couldn't care less about. Inuyasha had another few customers in the store he was keeping an eye on, but one of his ears stayed tilted towards the first floor counter as he mentally laughed at the man's words and Kagome's expression.

"—and Tsuyu absolutely adores animals! And this author! So I found a book he wrote about animals. It's about a criminal couple who run an animal fighting ring underground, and—"

_Would an animal lover want to read about fighting animals? _Kagome mused.

Nobunaga Amari proceeded to talk Kagome's ears off for only the next few seconds until she noticed a customer approach the counter. "Sorry, sir, but I'll have to cut our conversation short. I'll call when your book is here, okay? Okay!" Without giving him time to answer, Kagome shooed him off in the direction of the door, calling out a quick "goodbye!" before closing the door behind him.

Kagome returned to her spot behind the counter, giving her next customer a tired smile. "Good afternoon, miss..."

* * *

It was eight-thirty, and store closing time. Inuyasha watched the last customers as the young woman and her child left the store after briefly browsing. Aside from him, the store looked completely empty, but only because Kagome had disappeared about ten minutes ago.

Where was she?

Inuyasha sniffed the air, easily deducing she was in the storage room. Frowning, he glanced at the front door to make sure it was locked before heading into the back room where Kagome's scent was the strongest.

Opening the door, he stared a little at Kagome.

She was on the floor. Asleep. She was leaning against a few boxes, her hand poised over the flap of one that was half opened. Inuyasha scoffed. Did she do this before he had started working here, too?

"Oi." Inuyasha walked over and squatted down next to the girl. "Oi, Kagome." He prodded her ribs, watching her jerk her elbows in towards herself and falling off the box part of her body had been on. He winced when he heard her body smack the floor harshly.

"Uh, I'm sorry..." Inuyasha awkwardly watched her look around a little in confusion before grabbing her under the arms to pull her upright.

"Oh, thanks," she mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Didn't mean to make 'ya fall like that." Kagome brushed herself off and smiled at him. "Don't worry about; it's kind of my fault for falling asleep on the job." She looked sheepishly down at her toes. "Please tell me it's time to go home. I am so tired..."

Inuyasha smirked at her. "Yeah, it's time. Go home before you fall asleep on your feet."

Kagome grinned up half-heartedly at him before exiting the storage room with an audible yawn. She snatched her keys and purse from the counter, as she always did. Inuyasha was beginning to see a very strong relationship between Kagome and her precious front counter. After locked the door an shutting the lights off, the two of them stepped outside.

The moon seemed to shine brighter that night. It was a quiet night.

Kagome shivered visibly. Had she guessed it was going to be this cold at night she would have brought a heavy coat with her. Her light cardigan provided next to no warmth for her fragile human skin.

Suddenly she felt a heavy, and very warm, weight over her shoulder and back. "Huh?" She looked up and behind her to see him draping his strange large red jacket that resembled a haori over her. Though it had no buttons, it reached her knees and had over sized sleeves, but was almost unnaturally radiating warmth over her.

"Just give it back to me tomorrow. I won't need it, and you'll catch a cold in this weather." Inuyasha looked off to the side as he said this, not looking at her face. Would she be disgusted at the thought of wearing his clothes?

"No, Inuyasha, I can't take this. You'll freeze, and I don't live that far anyways," Kagome protested, making a move to take the jacket off of her. His heart warmed a little at her concern, but he didn't take the jacket back. Instead, he leapt backward, creating a few yards of distance between them.

Kagome sighed over dramatically. "Oh, fine. But I hope you know your random act of kindness won't earn you some raise or bonus," she said, winking at him.

"Yeah, sure." He looked up at the sky before turning around. "Get home. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he evanesced, moving out of her line of view at a dizzying speed. She raised a hand to the sky in a half-wave.

Kagome slipped her arms through the enormous sleeves, wrapping the jacket around her body and reveling in its warmth.

* * *

A/N: [Edited] As it turns out, Sesshomaru, canonically, is in fact, not the Lord of the Western Lands.. Feel free to look it up yourself, but as it turns out, it was never directly stated in the manga that he was. The part in here about him owning the region of Kanto, well, it's minor enough for me to leave in here, because it's not going with the common fanon idea, bu it seems practical enough that the almighty Sesshomaru owns a huge chunk of land.

And I'm telling you all right now— I don't have EVERYTHING planned out yet for this story— so remember that I'm open to any and all suggestions and comments!

So I basically got two votes each for either of the relationships between Sesshomaru and Rin, but I decided to go with Sesshomaru and Rin as a father/daughter type relationship since an idea popped into my head for the two of them, and I feel like it'd just work better for this story. Thank you though, for voting and reviewing anyways in the first place! Maybe I'll write a Sessh/Rin someday, because I do ship it.

Also, my computer and keyboard have been going insanely slow, so please excuse any grammar and spelling errors; please correct me on them!

Thanks to all my guest reviewers (Guest, Veena, Heartluv) for your continued support, it really means a lot, and your reviews are much appreciated!

I've been meaning to mention that in my previous chapter, the book that Yura purchased was an actual book that does exist, called 'The World of Traditional Japanese Hairstyles', which I do NOT own!

Thanks guys! You all ROCK! I hope you enjoyed this (short, I'm so sorry!) chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Wow guys, over 30 reviews? I am so shocked and so SUPER thankful to all of you! Honestly, I never expected a response like this, considering it's my first time and I'm not exactly an experienced writer.

**This chapter has been edited. **It's not really much, just some more development of Shippo's character and action between him and Inuyasha. I noticed that Shippo's partin this chapter really was rather pointless after having it pointed out to me by user xRaianx, so a big thank you to her!

Anyways, I bring all my fabulous and wonderful readers the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: The things I would do if I owned Inuyasha... keyword "would".

* * *

It was by far one of the most gorgeous days Kagome had seen this fall. After a few days, the weather had warmed up slightly, and the colors staining the trees seemed to have grown brighter. Sunlight filtered through them— the _komorebi _was gorgeous, filling up the entire bookstore. The leaves almost acted like color filters, and the shining light was different shades of red, orange, and yellow as a result. Kagome had decided to slightly dim the lights in the store so that the light would be more prominent. Many of their customers post-lighting-fix had complimented Kagome on how nice the store looked. She was beaming.

Inuyasha finally seemed to have gotten the hint that Kagome didn't really care how he acted in the store, as long as he was polite to the customers. Regular store clientele would know that if they needed help, all they had to do was ask the silver haired man that perched atop the second floor balcony railing.

Kagome wasn't stupid; she noticed how skittish many people, especially humans, were around Inuyasha when she pointed them his way. Demon customers usually went along with it, though she could see how they made an obvious effort to not go near or to touch him.

She wasn't sure if he had done it on purpose, but today he was leaning against the far wall, where the balcony ended, and right in a direct ray of sunlight. It wasn't blinding him, obviously, but it was highlighting his hair. His eyes were closed, so Kagome took the moment to observe him without being noticed.

His hair never did fall straight down his back— it almost seemed to be floating most of the time. Kagome supposed that was his youki's or his aura's doing, since youkai and hanyou often had incredibly strong auras. The shining hair almost reflected the colors of the sunlight, but instead it absorbed them in an unnatural way she didn't understand.

He always seemed relaxed when he sat up on the railing— maybe it was a demon thing, preferring to be in the air instead of on the ground? His normally stiff posture seemed to melt away the second he hit that railing. She had even noticed his preferred method of transportation when it came to work— flying. Often, she would notice him drop out of the sky in front of the store, or even be so lucky as to catch him hopping buildings on his way to work. Kagome propped her elbows on the counter and leaned her head on it. Well, she couldn't exactly call it flying, more like enormous leaps that covered a great distance. But if you looked at the right moment, one could only say he was flying.

* * *

Inuyasha tried not to move and resisted the urge to straight up yell at his boss. What the hell did she think she was doing, ogling him like that? Did she seriously think he couldn't notice? He could feel her stare a mile away. He knew she wasn't eyeballing him in a bad way— he could sense only her aura's state of content and small smile.

It was starting to border on creepy; she'd been staring at him like that for the past five minutes. Deciding that he'd had enough, he finally opened his eyes and met her eyes head on. "Yes?"

He startled himself when he jolted the second his eyes connected with hers.

For a second...

_For a second he saw Kikyo..._

He wasn't stupid— he'd noticed the resemblance the very first time they'd met. The hair was slightly different, and so were the eyes. But something about them was just so... similar. He couldn't place his finger on it no matter how hard he tried.

He wanted to look away, but he couldn't.

"HEY!"

Inuyasha's gaze snapped over to a young boy he hadn't noticed come in. A kitsune with orange hair, probably only twelve or thirteen was grinning at the two of them like the cat that had that swallowed the canary. Or, more appropriately in this case, a kitsune who just played a trick.

"One of you lovebirds gonna help me or what?"

Inuyasha gritted his teeth and leaped from his perch, landing in front of the boy. "What'd you just say, twerp?" He kept his voice on a low level Kagome couldn't hear.

"Oh, Shippo!" Inuyasha immediately dropped his threatening stance and took a step back. "Inuyasha, did you say something?"

For a human, she sure had some damn good ears.

"Nope."

"Hey!"

Kagome looked back at the young boy. "Whatcha need, Shippo?"

"Uh..." One look at the rather familiar looking strange white-haired man and his devilish glare immediately made him rethink his words. "Just, um, wanted to stop by and say hello to you, Kagome! Hehe..."

Kagome furrowed her brow. _Wonder what's got Shippo so freaked out. _She turned to look at Inuyasha, who's gaze quickly shot up to the ceiling. _Eh?_

"So Shippo, how's the second term of school going? Is that girl still bothering you?" Kagome unabashedly asked. Shippo turned red and turned away. Inuyasha smirked. "What, are you telling me you're gettin' bullied by a girl?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome admonished. "Don't say such things! Shippo's just too nice to hurt her, isn't that right, Shippo?"

It was Shippo's turn to smirk. "Yeah, cause I'm a mature, young gentleman. Unlike you!" Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha, who growled and held up a fist in return. "Brat..."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome whirled on him. She opened her mouth, but was cut off when she saw a customer step into the store. "There, go help that customer!" Inuyasha grumbled and folded his arms, but followed his given orders anyways.

"So, this is your new employee, Kagome?" Shippo asked. Kagome grinned at the kitsune. "Yup! Just started a few days ago. He's been a huge help around the store lately. Which is why I don't think I'll be needing your help tomorrow, thank you. You are more than welcome to come, though!"

"Yeah..." Shippo half-listened to the store owner. His attention was mostly focused on watching Inuyasha as he helped the customer find his book. "Kagome? You.. you do know who Inuyasha... is, right?"

She tilted her head as she gazed at Inuyasha with Shippo. "Yes, Shippo. And before you ask, no, I have absolutely no problem with him working here, and neither should you. I can tell what you're thinking."

Shippo nodded and turned to leave. "I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, then, Kagome." He waved and gave her a cheeky smile before leaving the store.

On the second floor, Inuyasha's ear twitched in their direction. _What's happening tomorrow?_

* * *

It was near closing time now. The store's back lights were off, and only a few lights illuminated the counter and the front door. Inuyasha stood against the door, arms crossed, watching Kagome close up.

"So who was that kid, anyway?"

Kagome briefly glanced at him before going back to locking the storage room. "You mean Shippo? Oh, I've known him forever it seems. Probably because he's technically older than me, being a demon and all. But he's more like a little brother to me."

"Uh..." _What the hell kind of sense does that make?_

"He comes by and helps me around the store sometimes. A sweet kid, really."

Inuyasha cringed. In his mind, the kid looked like the perfect punching bag.

"Hey, speaking of help," Inuyasha began. "What's going on tomorrow?"

"Oh, you must have overheard us! I'm sorry— I almost forgot to tell you. We have a read-aloud day for children on Fridays, which is tomorrow. Shippo would just come by to help manage crowd and read to the children sometimes. I'm going to need you to help out tomorrow. You wouldn't mind right?"

"Do I have to do the reading?"

"Nope."

"Then sure." _Read-aloud? It's like a library here, sometimes._

Kagome grinned. "Thank you, Inuyasha. Hey, there's a chance you might see your brother again tomorrow, too. He comes for them pretty often."

The next noise out of Inuyasha was a cross between a cough and a squeak. "Sesshomaru likes being _read aloud _to?!"

Kagome laughed out loud. "Goodness, no. But wouldn't that be quite the sight? No, he brings Rin for them since it's right after school. Oh, hey, now you can finally meet her!"

Inuyasha grumbled. "Yeah, guess so."

They parted at the locked front door of _Shikon_, going their separate ways into the night.

As Inuyasha rounded the corner, he took notice of a dark shadow leaning against a wall, quickly discerning it as none other than the boy who had been in the store earlier, Shippo.

"Why are you still hangin' around here?" Shippo didn't look the least bit surprised as he turned and leveled a gaze at Inuyasha. "To talk to you."

Inuyasha sighed. "Look, I'm not stupid. I heard what you were telling Kagome. I don't care what you've heard or what you think, but I'm not going to hurt her."

"Aren't you?" The kitsune's eyes narrowed. "After all, you had the audacity to murder your girl—"

A 'thud' resounded down the street as Shippo went flying and hit a far wall. By the time he had collected himself, the white-haired half-demon was already in front of him.

"I did not kill Kikyo." Shippo desperately tried to stifle the fear incited by his cold voice. "Don't you _dare _assume anything about me, or even her. Call me a half-breed, mock me, but don't act like you know who I am. Because you don't."

Inuyasha pushed off the ground and shot straight into the air, so high that Shippo couldn't see his form.

He stood shakily, slightly out of fear that the hanyou would return. When he was certain he wasn't coming back, he relaxed his slightly bruised form against the wall, watching his breath materialize in white clouds in the cold.

* * *

"So you're my oji-san!" Inuyasha stood frozen as an unfamiliar little girl latched onto his leg. She was probably only seven or eight years old, and judging by her scent and who she had come in with, she was the Rin that Kagome had told her about.

"I see you haven't fired my incompetent half-brother yet." Inuyasha looked up from the little girl to glare at his older brother, who was currently talking to Kagome.

"Of course not! He's been such an amazing addition! Really, Sesshomaru-sama, give your brother some more credit!"

"Half-brother."

"Yes, yes..."

Inuyasha managed to successfully pry Rin off of his leg. "So, this is the girl you adopted?" He looked down at her face. She was a cute little thing, with brown eyes like Kagome's and a section of her hair pulled into a strange side ponytail.

"What of it?" Sesshomaru held out a hand, and Rin promptly placed her small backpack adorned with flowers into it.

"Can't believe that you, of all people, decided to take in a human."

"Hn." Sesshomaru ignored Inuyasha's prying curiosity. "Higurashi-san, I will return to pick up Rin in an hour."

"Of course Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome watched on as Sesshomaru gave Rin a caring pat on the head before departing.

"Keh, you sure that he's not using her for his own twisted reasons?"

"_Inuyasha!_"

* * *

Inuyasha looked nervously at the crowd. Wide eyes, all different colors, both human and demon. Boring into his very soul. It was incredibly unnerving and he wanted to squirm under the pressure. There had to be hundreds— no, thousands. He couldn't stop staring at them. They were all monsters, about to—

"Snap out of it!"

Inuyasha ears twitched violently at Kagome harsh whisper. "What's your problem, woman?"

"Me? You've been locked in a staring contest with those kids for the longest time! Are you scared or something?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "Keh, you're talking about me here, remember? I'm not scared of any kid. There's just... a lot of them."

Kagome looked dubiously at the rather small crowd. "There's like, twenty of them. Man up and introduce yourself!" She gave him a little push forward, moving behind him so he was front and center. Leaning against a bookcase behind the children, Shippo fought a snicker that was about to escape at the hanyou's predicament.

"Um... I'm Inuyasha Takahashi..." He turned around, but only to meet Kagome making a "go on" gesture with her hands. "I uh... I work here now... and..."

"Are you dating Kagome-onee-chan?"

Inuyasha visibly flinched. "Wha... of course not!"

Rin turned towards the child who'd spoke the question, a girl younger than her with her hair in pigtails. "Inuyasha's my oji-san! He would tell me if he was dating anybody, and he hasn't yet!" She turned back towards Inuyasha, looking at him with big brown puppy eyes. "Riiight, oji-san?"

_Fuck, kids are scary. _

"Right..."

"Okay then!" Kagome clapped her hands together and plopped herself down in the large wooden rocking chair in front of the children. They were all gathered in the store alcove, with children sitting on the beanbag chairs, chairs, and the floor. Some parents still remained, but many had left, obviously used to bringing their children to Kagome's story time. "Today's story is going to be _Momotaro_!" She held up a large picture book with the title on it, a picture of the peach boy on the front. "Who here has heard of the story of _Momotaro_?" Several little hands went up eagerly, proud of their knowledge.

"That's great! Well then, let's start shall we? Everybody..." Inuyasha watched in amazement as Kagome cued the children, and at once they all chanted the famous beginning words of a fairy tale. "Once upon a time..."

Inuyasha watched Kagome as she read aloud from the book, holding it in such a way that she could see the words and the children could see the pictures. She would wave her arms around, change her voice when she read different dialogues, and got into the story as much as the children did, possibly even more so. He kept one ear on her story and the other trained on the door, knowing he had to help out customers while Kagome was reading.

Her enthusiasm was catching, it seemed, because all the kids were paying rapt attention to the story. Inuyasha caught himself smiling slightly at the end of the story as everyone clapped wildly— even he liked the way she told stories. It was no surprise why this event was so popular.

"I'm so glad you liked this story, everyone! Now, who wants to tell me what happens in the story?" Kagome pointed to a child in the back, who started talking quickly, easily summarizing the story in an almost professional manner.

"Great job, Satoru! I see someone's been practicing their summary skills! Now who can answer this question? Who was the one who..." Inuyasha watched, entranced, as Kagome asked the children questions, only to have whoever she chose get the answer correct. He was almost positive she was doing it on purpose— testing the children on their reading skills.

_Do the kids even know that they're kind of being tricked?_

It obviously didn't matter, since it seemed that they were having fun either way. The parents smiled at their children, who were eagerly and unknowingly learning. Shippo just grinned as he watched the whole scene. Inuyasha just looked on with what was probably a mild look of surprise on his face. They locked eyes, and both of their expressions transformed into cold glares. Obviously, neither one had let go of the conversation topic from the previous night. Kagome, however, has completely oblivious to the tension between them.

Inuyasha wasn't sure how could one person have done so much on their own before? Sure, she'd had that kid Shippo, but he didn't really count in his book...

He looked on from behind everybody, as Shippo went and handed each child their own copy of _Momotaro_ Kagome had in a box he had gotten from the storage room. The children all waved goodbye to Kagome and some even hugged her before running off to join their parents who were coming in through the doors. Sesshomaru was amongst them, barely sparing the two of them a glance before collecting Rin and leaving.

Shippo stuck behind with them as everyone else deserted the store.

"Oi runt, why are you still here?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gave him a confused look. "Do you have a problem with Shippo?"

Shippo smirked and began to open his mouth, but was cut off as Inuyasha jumped in with his answer. "No." He looked long and hard and Shippo. "Absolutely nothing is wrong. Right, kid?"

Shippo narrowed his eyes. "Yeah..." He gritted his teeth, but turned around. "I'll see ya around, okay, Kagome? Stay safe, alright?"

Kagome blinked. "Uh, of course, Shippo. Thank you for your help today. Come around again soon!" Shippo nodded and walked out the door, slowly. Inuyasha stared after him.

"Inuyasha?" He didn't look at her, but tilted his head in her direction. "I know Shippo may not be very open-minded about... you know..." She bit her lip and looked at her employee, who said nothing but dipped his chin in a gesture for her to continue. "But I want you to know I don't harbor any ill will towards you, okay? About... anything."

He looked flustered, but his facial expression barely changed. "Uh, thanks." Kagome giggled. "Of course, it's no problem, Inuyasha." She turned towards the alcove and began to move the chairs and beanbags back to their original positions.

"Anyways, you're pretty good with kids, huh?" She snapped her attention back to Inuyasha. "What do you mean?"

"You get all into your reading for the kids, and you even make them answer questions right. If I had to do that, I think I'd kill myself." It wasn't meant to be a joke, but Kagome laughed either way.

"I'm sure you'd have done fine; kids really aren't that scary. As long as you know how to make reading fun, it's really easy! Maybe I'll have you read to them one day."

Inuyasha choked on air.

"Or not..."

* * *

Inuyasha yawned as he waited outside of _Shikon _for Kagome. She came out, dressed in appropriate cold-weather clothing, and locked the door behind her.

"Inuyasha, I had almost forgot!" He watched as she gave him a neatly folded up pile of red cloth.

"It's your jacket that you lent me. I'm sorry I hadn't returned it yesterday, but my mom insisted on doing a wash on it for you. It was the least I could do, really." She handed the jacket to him. "Thank you very much for it, Inuyasha."

She turned and walked away quickly towards her house. Maybe it was the chilly wind that was making her cheeks so pink, Inuyasha thought.

With a shrug, he went on his own way.

* * *

A/N: So some of you may notice I kinda of interchange between the Japanese and English terms for things (ex. Youkai-demon, hanyou-half-demon, etc.) and so I apologize. I kind of just go with whatever fits the text better, in my opinion. If this seems unprofessional or annoying, PLEASE let me know so that I may fix my error.

I found out that Japan's schooling system is different from America's— they have three terms. One from April - July, a second one from September to December, and a third one from January to March. Cool, huh?

Also, _Momotaro_ is a pretty popular Japanese fairy tale— it's super cute, check it out!

Komorebi - sunlight filtering through the trees. It's a Japanese word— isn't it gorgeous?

Don't worry, Shippo won't be hating on Inuyasha. I want this story to kind of mirror the original story's events, and Shippo was kinda iffy towards Inuyasha at the beginning. So, this is the result. :)

I started branching out, watching some more anime. **Kaichou-wa Maid Sama!** — I loved so so SO much! (I think I have a little crush on Usui...) **Special A** was also totally epic! I also watched this 45 minute long one-shot called **Hotarubi no Mori e**— left me in tears for about ten minutes.

As you people can probably tell, I love romance! Anybody got suggestions for me? I'm open :D

Again, thank you so much everyone for reviewing, following, and fave-ing! *Gives out super yummy chocolate*


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys! I'm updating a tad early (I think) since I finished this chapter earlier. I suggest you go back and re-read chapter 5, since I edited it some. Thanks to xRaianx for the helpful feedback on how to fix that chapter up. I wasn't liking how I wrote in the interaction between Inuyasha and Shippo, and she really helped me fix it up.

Thank you to all of my reviewers, because you are ALL awesome! I have **50 followers,** and almost 40 reviews! In my opinion, that's pretty awesome for a beginner! I couldn't have made it this far without the support and kindness I've gotten from everybody! I hope you like this chapter— I was crazy upset over my lack of fluff so far, so I threw a teeny bit in. I hope it wasn't pushing anything too fast!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Who owns Inuyasha? (Hint: It's not me.) Rumiko Takahashi ROCKS.

* * *

"Inuyasha, I'm warning you! You had better not peek, okay?"

"Alright, alright," he grumbled, closing his eyes and placing his hands over them, remaining completely still. It was pointless, really. His hearing and sense of smell could determine exactly what she was doing, and where she was going.

"Okay... open!" He sighed and brought his hands away from his eyes, already knowing what he would be presented with.

"Look, your first paycheck! Aren't you excited?" Kagome grinned and held out the white check, written on with her pristine handwriting. "I hope I didn't do the math wrong— the hours and the pay, I mean. I'm pretty sure its all in order, but feel free to double check."

"Thanks." She handed him the check, wrapping fingers around it when he barely made a move to take it. "Why do you look so guilty? Geez, I'm supposed to be paying you, and you're supposed to be getting paid." Inuyasha grunted and took it from her, haphazardly shoving it into his red jacket, drawing Kagome's attention to it.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you— what is that?"

"Huh?" Inuyasha looked lost. "That." She pointed and shook her hand at his crimson outer garment. "It looks like a haori, but it also looks like a jacket. I asked Mama what it was when we were washing it, and she said it was a haori, but I'm still not sure."

His eyebrows lifted. Did it even matter what it was? "Keh, tell your mom she was right. Its a haori, but it's as warm as any jacket you humans wear."

Kagome laughed. "Us humans? What, you never wear a jacket in the winter?"

"Nope. This is all I need."

"Wow, maybe I should get myself one of those."

"Can't— it's one of a kind."

"Oh, really? Well, where did you get it from, then?"

She immediately noticed a shift in the air when she asked the question. Inuyasha lost the slight upbeat air he'd had around him and she could almost feel the upset surrounding him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was looking down slightly, wisps of his silver hair falling down the sides of his face.

"My, um, my parents gave this to me. A long time ago. You won't find them around anywhere nowadays."

She quickly grasped the double meaning in his words and decided to veer away from the subject. "Well, at least you don't go around barefoot and say things about weak humans needing shoes," she joked, trying to draw him out of his saddened state.

He jerked his head back up, all traces of whatever had upset him vanishing. "Well, actually..."

She gasped and looked at his feet, relieved when she saw him wearing old, but heavy, sneakers on his feet. "But you're wearing shoes."

He shrugged. "I didn't use to, 'cause they weren't necessary. I could just jump from one place to another. You humans consider than 'uncivilized' now, so I wear shoes. Honestly, if I could, I'd walk around barefoot."

Kagome laughed out loud. "I wish I had your strength. I'd be complaining after a few minutes of being barefoot on the pavement."

Inuyasha looked out the front windows of the store. "The cement isn't so bad, but walking on earth is a hundred times better. You should try it sometime."

She smiled and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "You know what, maybe I will."

She rested her elbows on the counter and got a far-away look in her eye. "It's been a while since I've enjoyed the world's natural beauty."

* * *

"Ah, Kagome-sama!" Inuyasha watched warily as a young man dressed in casual clothing grasped his boss's hands and pulled her closer to him. "How is this lovely day treating this lovely young lady so far?"

Kagome smiled nonchalantly at him. "It's been good, Miroku-sama. It'd be even better for both of us if you would let go of my hands and stop trying to look down my shirt." The man, Miroku, sheepishly pulled away and rubbed the back of his head while laughing nervously. Kagome self-consciously adjusted the neckline of her shirt.

He suppressed a growl, jumping from the second floor and landing next to Kagome, making her jump, but not fazing the strange guy at all.

"What do you think you're doing?" While Inuyasha looked about ready to punch the guy in the face, Miroku was looking rather calm. "I was just greeting Miss Kagome here."

Kagome sighed. "Yeah, Inuyasha, this is actually pretty normal. Don't worry, he's just a harmless friend. And he won't try anything like that on you." She eyed said friend cautiously. "You won't, right?"

A grin lit up the purple-eyed man's face. "Well, I don't know, Kagome-sama. Your friend here is quite the looker."

Kagome coughed violently to cover up the laugh threatening to escape her at Inuyasha outraged look. "Alright, you perv—"

Breaking out in laughter, Kagome put her hands on his balled up fists before he could start a fight. "Don't, Inuyasha, he's just joking. Really." He grumbled, but came out of his battle stance.

"So, anyways, Miroku, this is Takahashi Inuyasha. He's my new helper around here, and he's such a big help! I don't know how I managed before he came along." Inuyasha coughed and looked away, a slight blush forming on his cheeks from the compliment. "I just do what you pay me to do, woman."

Kagome's face twisted up slightly at the "woman" comment, but she made no move to reprimand him. "And Inuyasha, this is Kawasaki Miroku— a long-time friend who will come around occasionally. So, sorry, this isn't the last you'll be seeing of this pervert."

"Kagome-sama, how you wound me with your words..." Miroku pouted, faking hurt at her insult. He turned towards Inuyasha. "In any case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Takahashi-san." He bowed politely towards Inuyasha.

* * *

Inuyasha bristled at the first sting of spiritual power, unconsciously stepping back. The man wasn't directly attacking him, but he could feel rather immense holy power radiating from him, and he'd rather not be accidentally purified.

Kagome pulled Miroku up from his bow and pushed him away slightly. "Looks like I forgot to mention something..." She laughed nervously. "Miroku's a monk— he goes around exorcising evil youkai from people's houses." At this, Inuyasha eyed the man with distrust and took a step back. "No, he's not going to purify you, Inuyasha. Right, Miroku-sama?"

The monk burst into a silly grin. "Of course not! How could I harm such a kind lady's companion?" He narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head to the side. "Yes, you have a very clean aura, regardless of your demonic heritage. You've always had a good eye for men, Lady Kagome." Miroku gave her a flirty wink.

Kagome's face turned bright red. "No, we're not _together,_ or anything. We're just friends, right Inuyasha?" She giggled as she turned towards her companion, who was a shade away from matching his haori. "Y-yeah, get your head out of the gutter, bouzu."

"Bouzu? I am a holy man, a humble servant of Buddha. I believe I deserve far more recognition than—"

"Miroku-sama, is there any real reason you're here?"

The man sighed and adjusted the short ponytail at the nape of his neck. "Nah, I just wanted to drop by and say hello. While I'm here, though, I guess I'll browse." He saluted to his friend before taking off in the direction of a bookshelf.

"Inuyasha's here if you need any help!" Kagome called after him.

"Will do!"

It wasn't long before Miroku beckoned Inuyasha over.

"Sorry to bother you, Takahashi-san." Inuyasha stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets. "It's just Inuyasha."

"Okay then, Inuyasha. Could you point me towards where you keep meditation guides or books? It's good for the soul— meditating, I mean, not finding books." He laughed at his own joke, but stopped when Inuyasha made no move to laugh but instead began to lead him towards the appropriate section.

"So, how long have you been working for Kagome-sama, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha tiled his head to the side. "About a week, I'd say."

"Ah, so you've seen the read-alouds she does for children?" At the nod he received, he continued. "She truly is a people person, one for the community, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha stopped in front of a shelf and gestured to the books on it. "It's a wonder she doesn't get robbed, it seems she spent so much time away from the register before I started working here."

"That's the result of Sesshomaru-sama's influence on the area. Say, do you two know each other? You two look pretty similar," Miroku remarked, pausing in his browsing to take a step back and examine the hanyou.

Inuyasha growled. "Yes, yes, we're related. Did you find what you needed yet?" The monk was getting on his nerves— he wasn't used to talking with the clients, whether they were friends of Kagome's or not.

"As a matter of fact, I have." Miroku pulled a book off of the shelf and headed towards the front counter. "Thank you for the kind word exchange, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, whatever." He returned to his rightful place on the second floor railing, eying the man now walking towards Kagome.

* * *

"Hello again, Kagome-sama." She gave him a friendly smile. "Hi, Miroku-sama. You're buying a book?"

"Yup." He placed the book on the counter and pushed it towards the woman.

"Miroku-sama, you know you don't have to pay for anything you buy here," she began. "Please put your money away."

"Utter nonsense, Kagome-sama. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't pay you for a book I take out of your store?"

"A very good one."

"Ah, pretty and funny. How lucky I am to know such a woman." He sighed and put his hands up in defeat. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way then. Good day, Kagome-sama." He walked around the counter to embrace her. Above them Inuyasha stiffened, immediately on alert when he saw one of his hands begin to trail downwards.

"Oi!" He hit the ground beside the two the second Kagome's hand hit one of Miroku's cheeks. He grabbed the monk by his shirt's collar and lifted him into the air. "Get ready to say hello to Buddha, bouzu."

"Inuyasha! Put him down, he didn't mean any harm. Trust me, he's always like that." Inuyasha didn't look away from the man dangling in his grasp. "Seriously, no harm done."

Miroku's feet finally touched the floor. "I'm glad we could resolve this conflict without violence, friends." He rubbed his sore right cheek. "Well, with little to none violence." He grabbed his book off of the counter and waved. "I'll see you two later!"

Inuyasha glared after him. "Don't worry, that won't happen again anytime soon." He paused when he noticed her frowning at the counter. "What's wrong?"

She sighed and picked up a thousand yen note on the counter. "He always does this, and I wish he wouldn't."

"Does what? All he did was pay for a book in a store, like he's supposed to."

"Yeah, but..." She reluctantly opened up the cash register and put the note in its rightful place. "First of all, he's a trained and professional monk. He knows all there is to know about meditation; he doesn't need that book. And even if he did, he's my friend. He's not supposed to pay for it."

"Then why did he buy it in the first place?"

She propped her chin up on two elbows. "Honestly, I don't know. He's just like that. Maybe the book was for someone else, but I do know that Miroku-sama always has a way of getting what he wants if he really wants it. Random acts of kindness are kind of his thing."

"It's not like you're not kind, either."

"What?" She looked up at him, surprised at the offhand compliment, but he was gazing in the other direction and blushing profusely.

"Keh. Nothing, never mind..."

* * *

"Oh, I hate it when people leave the books on the tables," Kagome grumbled as she picked books strewn over the alcove tables. "It really isn't so hard to put them away."

"Yeah, but it's a lot easier to just leave them lying around, which is why they do it," Inuyasha griped. He helped put the books back into place, going at a considerably faster pace than his co-worker.

Kagome took a look at her last book, giving herself a minute to remember it's proper place. Once she got it she walked to the far wall, climbing the rolling ladder attached to the bookshelf so she could reach the top shelf. Her short height wouldn't even let the top of her hand reach the shelf.

The space she was trying to reach was just slightly out of reach. Sh braced her left hand on the shelf to try to push the rolling ladder closer to the spot she was trying to reach, but it wouldn't budge. Frowning, she pushed harder on the shelf, but the ladder wouldn't move. Giving one final hard shove, the rolling ladder finally jolted hard to the right, startling Kagome so badly she tumbled backwards off, the book flying out of her grasp.

Before she had time to think or scream, she caught a flash of a bright color, like silver or white, before she found herself being held safely by her newly hired assistant. He held her in one arm, and had managed to grab the falling book with the other.

The look on her face was utter surprise. "Inuyasha... thank you so much!" She awkwardly managed to get her arms around his shoulders and hug him, completely missing the blush that spread across his face.

Inuyasha's eyes darted from side to side. "Uh, sure, no problem." He walked over to a recliner in the alcove, gently setting his boss down in it. "You hurt?"

She almost shined— that's how brightly she smiled at him. "I'm perfectly fine, thanks to you. I really do wonder sometimes how I survived before I hired you."

"Keh, clumsy woman, you'd have a broken ankle right now, that's for sure." He turned towards the shelf and put the back back in former position, not bothering to use the ladder as he was tall enough to reach it himself. Frowning, he squatted down to inspect the rolling ladder. "The wheels are locked— that's why you couldn't move it. Just remember to unlock them next time."

"Sure thing, Inuyasha!" She hopped up from her seat and headed towards her beloved front counter. "Ready to go?"

* * *

A/N: So, I liked Miroku in this chapter. I hope he was in-character, and everyone else was too. Please, please, PLEASE tell me all your comments and thoughts on this story— I want to improve it and make it as good and as in-character as I can! Now, a few notes...

1\. Can someone out there explain to me how names in Japanese are created? (Such as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.) I'm pretty sure they're not common Japanese names, but rather names Rumiko Takahashi made up to fit her characters better. It seems really interesting, and I would love to learn about it.

2\. Youkai does not directly translate to demon, contrary to popular belief. It's more of a word to describe supernatural/paranormal beings and apparitions. Thats why I stated that Miroku exorcises youkai, as opposed to just demons. Now he can exorcise ghosts and evil spirits and whatever.

3\. Bouzu, from what I've sen in other works and in the sub versions of the show, is what Inuyasha called Miroku, a derogatory term for a monk. However, I can also see that bonzo is what Inuyasha calls him, from other sources. Does anyone know the correct terms?

All criticisms and comments are welcome! Thank you all for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: So I thought it had been two weeks since I updated... turns out it was more like three, so I wrote this out over the weekend. I apologize for the lateness, and I thank you all very VERY much for the support! Seriously, you all rock!

In the spirit of Halloween, a Halloween themed chapter will be coming up after this one! Because, I love Halloween, so yeah...

Disclaimer: I'm too tired and lazy to say I own Inuyasha.

* * *

"Perfect..."

Under the cover of dark, a figure moved in the shadows, darting from one corner of his shabby and small apartment to the other. He held an old-fashioned paintbrush in his right hand, which dripped at the end with a strange colored substance. One might say it was black, while someone else might disagree, saying it looked rather red in the light.

To the figure, it didn't really matter.

He picked up his old-fashioned bamboo brush and dipped it into the liquid, slowly stroking it, almost lovingly, over his paper, creating the most grotesque and unique figures on his paper.

Under the cover of dark, he grinned and laughed manically. He ran his tongue over his crooked, unsightly teeth as he concentrate fervently on his paintings, getting up every so often to add more solution to his inkwell.

"Yes, just perfect..."

* * *

Taking a bite from his cup of lukewarm ramen, Inuyasha ignored the unsatisfying temperature of his noodles and ran from the kitchen to the living room for his jacket. He wouldn't be late, obviously, but he still liked to get there the second she opened the doors.

_See? I can be a good, dedicated employee. Keh, take that, Sesshomaru, you ass._ He scoffed and crossed the room, cursing when he accidentally stepped on his TV remote. He ignored the various words coming from the news anchor on the TV as he shrugged his haori on over his jeans and white shirt.

_"— and citizens in the surrounding area are baffled as to what the cause of this strange destruction and murders are. Witnesses report seeing strange substances on the ground, both familiar and foreign to them at the same time. Investigators are looking into the cause of these deaths. As of now, rogue demon involvement is suspected. I response to the twenty-eight gruesome murders, we advise you to take precautions at all times if you live in the Saitama area. This is—"_

Frowning, Inuyasha picked up his remote and shut the television off. He mentally calculate the distance between Saitama and where he and Kagome currently resided. It was a fairly large distance; there was no reason to care about something that wouldn't affect him.

Slurping down the rest of his ramen, Inuyasha tossed the cup aside and stuck his foot into his sandals, locking the doors behind him and stepping outside.

* * *

"Kagome-sama, Kagome-sama!" An exhausted looking Miroku burst into the store the second Inuyasha jumped down from the second floor, sensing the young man from down the street.

"Kagome... sama..." He paused and leaned on the counter, desperately trying to catch his breath, obviously having run a long distance to reach _Shikon. _"I have some good news for you!"

"Oooh, really?" She paused in her book shelving on the now mobile rolling ladder, carefully hopping down. "What's up, Miroku-sama?"

"I have a job for you!" Inuyasha's ear twitched, and he tried not to look too much like he was eavesdropping, even though they both probably knew he could hear every word that they were saying.

"There have been sightings of some strange looking demons in the Saitama Prefecture. I have been called there to exorcise them— I thought it would be a great opportunity for you if you came to help me!" Miroku looked rather pleased with himself.

_Saitama... demons... I think I know..._

"You're gonna make her go slay demons on her own?" Miroku frowned at Inuyasha's words. "Of course not. I will be there to protect Kagome-sama. You are welcome to come too, Inuyasha."

_Twenty-eight gruesome murders..._

He gave Kagome a sidelong glance. "'Ya going?" She nodded fervently. "It'll mean I have to close for today, but that's all right. Sales have been through the roof lately, and I'm pretty sure it's all thanks to you!" She pushed the rolling ladder away from herself and gave him a cheeky smile. "Guess you deserve the day off today, huh?"

She was surprised when he shook his head. "I'm going with you."

"What? Why?"

"Cause you're gonna be fighting _demons."_ He jerked his head towards Miroku. "What good can he do to help?"

"Hey! I will have you know that I am —"

"Inuyasha, Miroku is a very strong monk, and he trains with me sometimes. I assure you, I'll be fine," Kagome began. "Besides, I think that you deserve a day off at the very least. You've been working very hard since you've came here."

"I'm going." He wouldn't look her in the eyes, but adamantly stared forward.

There was a short silence between the three before it was broken by Kagome's question.

"So should we leave now?"

* * *

Inuyasha had announced that he would be back once they had the store locked up and they were ready to go. He had taken to the roofs, most likely toward his house.

Leaping through the air, he ignored the sharp and cold winds hitting him across the face. He barely felt them, but they still were there. His human half tended to show itself at some of the worst times, such as now.

Sometimes, he wasn't sure if it was his demon side or his human side which had the most control over his feelings for Kagome. He wasn't too sure why he had declared to go with her on her journey today. It wasn't like there was much he could do — he certainly wasn't a priestess himself.

There was no good reason for saying that the monk, Miroku, couldn't protect her. He could feel the man's aura, one that was quite strong, almost surprisingly so, for someone that young. He was probably around Kagome's age, but he had the power of one much more experienced and older than him.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed off extra hard on one rooftop, leaving a slight dent in the bricking and cement, before landing straight in front of his house. Hurriedly opening the door, he made a dash for his room and grabbed the thing he was looking for.

Tetsusaiga was originally his fathers sword, that he knew. But from what he had heard from his mother and Sesshomaru, mostly his brother, was that it had more capabilities than the ones he had witnessed firsthand. So far, all he could do was transform the sword into its true fang form, and fire _kenatsu _with it. Sesshomaru had mockingly told him that the sword was capable of much more, probably more than he could handle.

_At least I can actually touch the damned thing._

He snarled slightly, and shoved the sheath of the sword through his belt loop, the sword following suit.

In two bounds, he was out of his house and heading back towards _Shikon._

Time to prove his brother wrong.

* * *

He never did like cars. Fifty years ago, he thought them unnecessary and ridiculous contraptions for weak humans.

Fifty years later, he still did.

They had all piled into Miroku's car, much to Inuyasha's dismay. He would have traveled alongside them on foot, but then realized doing so would have left Kagome alone in a car with that pervert...

He quickly rethought his decision and found himself sitting grumpily in the backseat while Kagome and Miroku rode upfront. At least he could keep an eye on the pervert and his wandering hands, which thankfully stayed attached firmly to the steering wheel the whole time.

The roads, surprisingly, were not too crowded, and Miroku's car glided easily through traffic. The seventeen mile trip took a little over a half an hour, and Inuyasha was thankful when he pulled over on the side of a completely deserted road after hitting the outskirts of the city. They exited the vehicle, following Miroku's lead as he turned towards the west, away from the city and towards the vast plains and empty land.

"There." Miroku pointed to a broken down looking house, although a better word for it would have been shack, in Inuyasha's opinion. There was an unpleasant scent wafting from it, making Inuyasha's nose wrinkle in distaste.

"So what exactly will we be dealing with here?" Kagome inquired, taking a curious step towards the shack. "I can feel a demonic presence, but it's a little bit... off."

"Precisely," Miroku commented. "What I've been told are that these are not natural demons. Meaning they were created by someone else. Whether they are human or demon, I cannot tell you."

As they advanced towards the hut, a blast of a youki energy wave hit them hard. Miroku and Kagome were affected slightly by the attack against their reiki, but Inuyasha was almost keeled over.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome rushed over to him, gently putting a hand to his forehead. "Are you alright?" With a slight cough, he pushed off the ground and rose to his feet, narrowing his eyes at the hut.

"Blood."

"Huh?" Kagome asked, confused by the word. She quickly looked him over, but saw no blood.

"Blood and ink. A lot of it, coming from in there." He covered his mouth and nose with his haori sleeve, indicating towards the hut. "Whatever it is, it's charged with youki, blood and ink."

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked.

"It seems to be affecting you quite a bit," Miroku added. "Perhaps you should sit this out and Kagome-sama and I—"

"No. I'll be fine." Inhaling through the cloth sleeve, he knew he could hold his breath for a long time.

"There were alleged rumors of someone living here. A human, though. I'm not entirely sure as to how this..."

Miroku cut himself off as a large, reddish-black demon launched seemingly out of nowhere straight towards him. Yanking something out of the inside of his jacket, he quickly mumbled a few words and tossed it towards the demon. The papers connected, appearing to burn the demon on contact. It howled, and then disintegrated. Into a puddle of blood and ink.

Inuyasha choked violently and took a flying leap backwards. Kagome ran after him, following him to where he had retreated by the car. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

"The smell... it's too strong..." He sneezed loudly, and then cursed under his breath. "Damn."

Kagome sent him a worried look. "Hey, maybe you should just wait inside the car then—"

"Keh! I'm not some weak human, I'll be fine." He sent her a wavering glare. "Maybe you should wait inside there until this is over."

She scoffed. "I'm supposed to be here, to help develop my powers. That reminds me," she said, opening the car trunk and pulling something out. "Miroku! Heads up!" The monk whirled around and quickly caught the large golden shakujo with one hand, sending her a smile of gratitude before turning around to face the strange, unnatural demon.

"And this here is for me," Kagome said, brandishing a old-fashioned red bow, and a quiver of arrows which she slung onto her back. "See? I'm armed, so I'm safe."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Do you even know how to shoot?" Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. "Of course I do. I come from a shrine, remember? I practiced every day. I might be a little rusty, but I've still got it." To prove her point, she pulled an arrow from the quiver. Inuyasha watched, slightly entranced, as she and the arrow began to glow a soft, lilac-pink hue, the energy around her crackling, almost sparkling. He could feel power come off her in waves, stunning him slightly.

Did she know how much power she possessed?

_She's just like Kikyo... _The little voice in his head taunted, and Inuyasha couldn't help but agree a little. Her powers were almost a mirror of Kikyo's. The spiritual ability, the color of her powers.

Their aura's were completely different, however. Kagome's was lighter and just... happier. Kikyo's was heavier, darker, more.. sorrowful. She never was as carefree as Kagome. She was always focused so adamantly on her spiritual training, but Kagome's attentiveness towards him was almost refreshing.

_No, stop... _

What was he doing? Comparing his _boss _to his now deceased girlfriend? He shook his head, clearing it of the strange thoughts.

Right now, he had a battle to focus on. His first in a long, long time. Grinning, he unsheathed his sword, and smiled as it grew in size into it's true form.

He remembered when he used to practice with the sword, at a very young age and with his mother. She was the reason he had figured out how to transform it. On their way back home from the dojo, they had become the target of two robbers. Making a bold declaration to protect his mother, the swords had pulsed, one, two, three times, before transforming into it's fanged form.

Needless to say, the robbers had screamed in a very un-manly fashion before scurrying away from the child and his mother.

Inuyasha had glanced up at his mother, very confused.

"_Mama..."_

And now, because of his affection towards humans, the sword recognized him and lent him its power.

"Wow, Inuyasha," Kagome commented. "Where'd that come from? It's so cool!" She snorted. "Sure beats my bow and arrows." She paused thoughtfully. "You know, it kinda—"

"Watch out!" Inuyasha grabbed Kagome around the waist and pushed them both off the ground, soaring about fifty feet above the demon which had just tried to attach them. He cursed and look down at the wraith-like demon, the scent of blood and ink once again overpowering his senses. He hit the ground and carefully set Kagome down before collapsing on his knees as well.

"Oi, bouzu, what's going on?" Inuyasha shouted. Miroku turned and furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not too sure. These demon's have the strangest aura about them. They appear to be paintings come to life."

"I can see that! It's not helping!" Sighing in frustration, he covered his nose and stalked towards the hut. Ignoring his somewhat blurry vision, he kicked the door down. The hut shuddered, before completely collapsing.

Inside, a man lay on the floor, covering his head with his arms. He was holding several scrolls, as though to protect himself from whatever threats were about to be made on him.

"You responsible for this?" Inuyasha growled as he hefted the man up by his shirt collar.

"Unhand me, filth! My loyal demons, attack him! Feast on his blood!" Struggling, he managed to open one of the many scrolls and toss it at Inuyasha. It glowed for a second, before whatever was painted on it leaped off, growing to life-size proportions. The artificial demon was no match for Inuyasha, however. Completely disregarding his sword, Inuyasha cut the demon down with his claws, which glowed a vibrant yellow as they slashed through the blood and ink.

"Keh, how's... that... " Inuyasha's cocky voice slowly faded as the stench of the blood and ink on his claws took over his senses and made him pass out.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out. The man opened several more scrolls, laughing maniacally as they surrounded the fallen hanyou. She shot an arrow through the crowd of blood thirsty demons, immediately killing them all, but showering her employee with more blood and ink. "Miroku-sama, please—"

"I'm on it!" The monk fought his way through the steadily appearing demons towards Inuyasha, hefting him off the ground and carrying him off of the battlefield, setting him down next to Kagome. She stepped in front of him protectively, shooting off arrows into the horde of disgusting demons.

"Miroku-sama, why are they alive?" Kagome cried over the deafening sounds of demons roars. "They're just paintings!"

"I want to say," Miroku began, pausing between words to purify the demons in his way. "That it is... the blood... but unless... it's magic somehow... that's quite... impossible!" He stopped, panting for a few seconds, before hopping back up to face the demons.

The painter laughed madly, opening more scrolls and tossing them towards the fighting duo. "It's no use! I, Kotatsu, have more power, I have all the power!"

Gritting her teeth, Kagome pulled the bowstring back, eying the bottle the man was holding. _He has a special paint to make these... if I shoot it...!_

With a battle cry, Kagome charged her arrow with her reiki, feeling it infuse with the wooden and metal arrow before releasing it. It flew, a little wobbly, but mostly straight towards its path. She barely nicked the side of the container though. Before the painter could react, she fired another one, which cut open the bottle. Ink and blood solution poured out, coloring the battleground an ugly red. Kagome covered her nose and coughed. Good thing Inuyasha was still out— he would have been dying.

"You fool! You'll kill them!" Kotatsu screamed, fervently dropping to his knees and soaking his hands in the wretched mixture. "My children, my power..."

The remaining demons were still plentiful. Miroku ground his teeth together as he watched the man about to make a run for it. He clenched his right hand tightly before unwinding the beads which he had covering them.

"Miroku-sama, don't!" He ignored Kagome's plaintive cry behind him as he yanked the rosary off, created a black hole-like suction coming from deep within his palm. He braced his feet on the ground as the hoards of demons seemed to come at him at once, before disappearing within the dark recesses of his hand.

* * *

Miroku inhaled deeply before fervently resealing his hand to prevent anything extra from being absorbed by his wind tunnel. His kazaana had never had to withstand being open for such a long time. He had also never absorbed such a strange energy— life force given to inanimate objects in order to make them alive somehow. It was foreign to his body, a rare thing, considering the many things his wind tunnel had absorbed.

He stood as straight as he could before taking off after the man, yelling over his shoulder at Kagome to tend to Inuyasha. He ran as fast as he could, which, for a human, was rather quick. He pursed the man, Kotatsu, catching up with him easily despite his injury. With one hit on his staff, the man was down. Miroku stood above him, pointing the tip of his staff down at the man.

"You are not a demon, not one who possesses spiritual powers, yet you make your paintings come to life. I do not like needless violence. Do explain how this was possible."

Without his strange blood demons to protect him, the man was obviously not gloating about his power now.

"I was promised power. He did something to my paints, and told me to add blood, human or demon! That's all!" Kotatsu wailed, raising his arms in defense.

Miroku glowered. "Who? Who said this?" He was ignored as Kotatsu fervently began to pat the ground, as if in search of something. "Aha!" He picked up a sharp piece of wood and raised. Miroku, thinking he was aiming for him, jumped away. He was surprised when the foolish man plunged it into his own arm and raked it down, leaving an enormous gash that immediately began to bleed. His blood dripped onto the floor, intermingling with the remnants of his ink-like substance. He laughed wildly.

"Now, I will restore my great power! Feed, my pets, feed! Feast on my blood!" He eagerly held his arm out, and the mostly dead ink paintings rose off the ground, creeping towards him, before latching onto his arm like leeches.

Miroku watched, horrified, as they began to suck blood from the mans body, leaving him paler and paler with each passing second.

After a minute, he was nothing but dry skin on bone. Too shocked to utter a sound, Miroku quickly made work of the newly risen demons and chanted a prayer, plunging his staff into the ground. A blue wave of purification swept over a field, and he carefully made sure to target only the demons and not harm Inuyasha, resting only a few meters away.

The strangest job he'd had in a while, and he didn't even get all the information he wanted. Sighing, he collapsed on his knees in the middle of the ink and blood soaked field. He was too confused.

* * *

As Kagome watched Miroku dart away, she opened the car door, and found a roll of towels in the backseat. She took a few and carefully dabbed the hanyou's face, attempting to get the disgusting and putrid substance off him. He seemed to be having difficulty breathing, so she wiped his face first, trying to get the ink off of it. She adjusted him, a little awkwardly, so his head rested in her lap. Hopefully, he wouldn't wake up anytime soon, she thought with a blush.

As she leaned down to work on a particularly sticky patch near Inuyasha's eye, her hair fell forward and brushed against his nose. His nose twitched and he inhaled deeply, before his eyes fluttered open. "Wh-what? What happened?"

Kagome squeaked, obviously not anticipating his waking. "Oh, uh, I-Inuyasha! You're finally awake. You, uh, passed out from the smell. Are you alright now?"

"Mm... I think so." His voice croaked a little and his eyes were practically fighting to stay open. "I'm so 'ired, though, 'Gome..." he wiggled his head in her lap before resting it so his head faced her way. "You smell nice..."

If Kagome was blushing before, she couldn't imagine what she looked like now. "Well, ah..." She paused when she realized he had fallen back into unconsciousness.

She sighed and rested a hand on his hair, using the other hand to continually wipe ink off of his person.

* * *

The car ride back was silent. Inuyasha had woken up, but was still rather groggy. They had passed Kagome's shrine a while ago, so she had bid them good-night, leaving the two men alone in the car.

"Oi, bouzu?"

"It's Miroku, and yes?"

"What was up with that guy?" Miroku was silent, seemingly in thought, for a while before he answered. "He told me that someone had promised him power, and did something to his ink to animate it. All Kotatsu had to do was add the blood." A dark look overtook his face. "He killed himself before I could get anything else off of him."

Inuyasha tilted his head to the side. "Does Kagome know?"

Miroku shook his head. "She... she's still in training for her powers. She thinks this was a simple exorcism, and only questioned it once, not again. I don't want to overwhelm her with worries. She runs a business, and that itself is enough work for her."

Inuyasha furrowed his brow. "Speaking of which, she mentioned somethin' about you randomly buying books for no good reason. Something I should know about?"

One corner of Miroku's mouth turned up slightly. "Ah, Kagome-sama has been such a wonderful influence in my life, it is only right that I repay her with some extra walking-around cash, don't you think?" He pulled up at a curb, outside Inuyasha's house. "This is the address you gave me, right?"

Inuyasha nodded once. "Yeah, um, thanks, I guess," he mumbled, unused to thanking people. "'Night, then."

Miroku gave a wistful smile as the hanyou exited his car. "Goodnight."

* * *

A/N: So I'm glad we started mock trial in school now, because Inuyasha's trial is coming up soon! Or well, a flashback of it, more like. I really was confused on how court system's worked out, so now I have a pretty good idea of it. However, does anyone know how Japan's court system works? Is it similar to ours, crazy different? All comments and ideas are welcome!

Kenatsu - Tetsusaiga's ability to hit enemies with concentrated youki without actually touching the opponent/object.

Reiki - Very basically put, it's spiritual power, like those that priests and priestesses like Kagome and Miroku possess.

I am very tired, and I'll fix grammar error's tomorrow! Feel free to point them out, though. I'm open to all comments!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So this is the promised Halloween chapter. Next chapter up will most likely by Inuyasha's trial, or at least, a part of it. That is going to take me a while, so be prepared to wait a while 'til the next update. Sorry about that, guys! Thank you ALL, for your loyal reviews, follows, and fave's, because you all rock.

Chapter has been edited.

Disclaimer: Owning Inuyasha sounds like a lot of work.

* * *

Walking down the street, Kagome inhaled deeply. She loved the smell the air had when it rained, which it had the night before. She loved both the rain and the leaves of the fall — even big dreary downpours could not wash away the vibrancy of the leaves' colors. It gave her the spring in her step, the smile on her face, and fuel for her daily optimism. After all, how could she not be happy when life at _Shikon _was going so well?

It really wasn't too long of a walk between her store and her home, the Higurashi shrine. When she got close to the store, Kagome began skipping, the calm and cheerful atmosphere slowly getting to her.

She was broken out of her giddiness when she felt someone grab her hands, which she had begun swinging at her sides, and stop her from hitting them. She opened her eyes to see Inuyasha watching her with a raised brow. Slightly surprised, she flashed him a quick smile.

"Hehe… good morning, Inuyasha. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you drop in," Kagome said, a little embarrassed. "That was pretty cool; I wish I could walk around all stealthy and quiet. That's quite the natural talent."

Inuyasha gave her a look like she was crazy. "Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be." He released her hands with a slight blush when he realized he was still holding onto them. "Um, sorry."

"Don't be." Kagome cheekily clapped her hands together before reaching into her purse to extract her store key. She opened the door for them both and closed it behind herself once they were inside. "Hey, I have something to ask you. Are you a fan of Halloween?"

"Halloween? Isn't that some American thing?"

"Oh yeah, I've forgotten." Kagome grinned and waved him over to sit with her on one of the couches in the alcove. "I guess you didn't hear about it since it's more of a recent thing— Japan's sort of recently adopted America's version of Halloween. Everyone dresses up, tells spooky stories. There's even a Halloween festival in the Kanagawa Prefecture. I'd love to take you, but it's during work hours. If you'd really like to, I can let you off, no problem."

"Um, that's great? And don't worry about it, I'd rather be here." Inuyasha had heard of what Halloween was like in America. He knew what cosplaying was. They sounded suspiciously similar._  
_

"I was wondering if you would come to work tomorrow dressed up?"

"Eh?" Inuyasha looked startled. Him? Dressed up? The idea didn't click with him quite well.

"I mean, you don't have to, but we usually decorate the whole place for Halloween, and I dress up, too, so I'd really appreciate if you did." _Kami_, he swore, she did that weird thing with her eyes on purpose. They got inhumanely large and started to shine, and it cast some kind of weird feeling of guilt in his heart. Maybe it was a miko thing — he wasn't too sure.

"Well, I don't think I have a costume, but I guess I can try to dress up. Tomorrow, right?" Kagome nodded and leapt forward, hugging the taller man around the middle. "Thank you so much! I hope you're not going out of your way or anything." She pulled back to look at him, almost giggling at the look on his face. He appeared shocked and a little frozen. Taking the hint that most likely wanted his space, she stepped away.

"N-nah, I'll think something up."

"Awesome! Thanks, Inuyasha, now let's get to—"

"Wait!" Kagome paused in getting up from the couch and turned to Inuyasha. "Tomorrow… how long will we be working until?"

Kagome gave him an odd look. "Well, Halloween isn't going to change anything. Until nine o'clock, silly, just like usual! That is, of course, unless you change your mind about going to the Halloween festival. In which case, just let me know a little beforehand." She got up off the couch. "Now come on, I just got a new shipment in, and we need to shelve those suckers as fast as we can!" She raced off into the storage room.

Inuyasha rose as well, sighing heavily and raking a hand through his hair.

_Damn, what am I gonna do?_

* * *

It was probably already midnight, but Inuyasha was up late with worry. It wasn't as if he could waltz into _Shikon _without a costume — Kagome's bright disposition gave him the feeling that he wouldn't get much of a scolding, but he could just picture her sad face when he showed up in normal clothing.

But where on Earth was he going to think up a costume?

He had old clothes, from when he was a child — in other words, probably from two centuries ago. Old enough to look interesting and pass off as a costume of sorts. Too bad they didn't fit him, and he had only kept them because he had forgotten to throw them out.

With a frustrated sigh, he resumed shuffling through his wardrobe. He dug his hand deep into the clothes pile until it come in contact with something… rough? Thick? Frowning, he pulled the strange material out from the bottom of his clothes pile to stare at it in wonderment.

A pair of red, slightly worn out hakama stared him in the face. He shook them out a little, and coughed on the dust that came out, and wrinkled his nose.

They looked ridiculously out of place, but along with the equally bright haori, it would look so deliberate...

With something akin to a grin on his face, Inuyasha laid the pants next to his worn out haori-jacket. They matched exactly. The jacket was so old, though noticeably cleaner; the pants probably went with them.

Together, they looked ridiculously gaudy enough to resemble some form of Halloween costume. Good enough for him, he thought.

He was down to his last issue— his hair.

What was he to do with it? He was obviously going to stay outside well into the night tomorrow, otherwise he'd have no problem leaving it as it was. He would have gone out and bought a wig, if his hair wasn't so long and thick. There was no way he was buying some ridiculous cosplay wig just for this night.

Making a disgruntled noise, he flopped backwards onto his shaky bed. He'd figure it out sooner or later.

* * *

"Later" turned out to be the end of the night, as Inuyasha awoke from where he had unknowingly dozed off on his bed. With a curse, he realized he had only a half an hour to get dressed and to work.

He disliked rushing in the morning — he liked to be lazy and go about things slowly. After showering and scarfing down a cup of ramen as fast as he could, he donned his makeshift costume. Tied together with an obi and wearing a traditional white undershirt beneath his usual jacket, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked unusual enough what with the bright colors, but not enough so.

Snatching Tetsusaiga from its place on his bedside table, he slid the sword and its sheath into place on his hip. Giving his long, shiny, and rather ostentatious hair a last mournful look, he slipped on a pair of geta sandals before leaving the house.

* * *

Kagome woke up with a smile. There really wasn't much that could get her down on this day, not when she loved to dress up so much. She had taken great care in laying out, washing, and ironing her costume last night. Coming from a shrine, she had an obvious theme in mind.

The miko robes had supposedly been passed down from generations ago, according to her eccentric, but lovable, grandfather. They were still in fantastic condition though, having been stored in a trunk in the shrine's warehouse, which had also doubled as a costume trunk in Kagome's mind.

Red hakama, a white shirt, the weird socks and sandals… Kagome looked herself over in the mirror as she tied her hair up with the traditional white ribbon miko's in the feudal ages had worn, carefully brushing her wavy bangs away from the ponytail in the back of her head. She stood for a minute, admiring her handiwork in her mirror before picking up her red bow and a quiver of arrows to complete her look.

A quiet knock sounded from the open door. "Kagome?" Her mother walked in with a smile on her face. "You look so beautiful! Like the miko you are," she said.

Kagome giggled. "Thank you, Mama. I really like it, too." She grabbed her bags from beside the bed and headed for the door. "I'll see you tonight, Mama — happy Halloween!"

With a soft smile, Mama Higurashi watched her daughter leave the house. "You too, dear."

* * *

"Wow, Inuyasha, you look great!"

Inuyasha almost jumped at the abrupt voice that sounded behind him. He cursed himself for not hearing his approach, too deep in his own thoughts. There stood Kagome, looking more like Kikyo than ever. His jaw dropped.

"Inuyasha? What's wrong? Oh no, did Mama not tell me about something on my face? I swear…" Kagome grumbled as she swiped at her face. "There, better?"

"Oh, no it wasn't that." Inuyasha fumbled vainly over his words. "You, uh…" He scratched his head. "Keh, you look nice, too." A light blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Thanks! I'm a miko, can you tell?" Before he got a chance to speak, she continued. "What's your costume?"

"Me?" Inuyasha pondered, looking down at himself. "I'm not too sure. I sort of threw it together last minute."

"Your hakama look like what warriors would wear in the Sengoku era. Maybe you could just play off that?" She took a step closer and pointed at the weapon at his hip. "Wasn't this the sword you had the other day?"

"This is Tetsusaiga. It's some old family heirloom I got."

"That's the most kick-behind heirloom I've ever seen. Just don't go waving it around inside the store, alright? You might scare the customers away!" She laughed and took his hand, dropping something into it. "Happy Halloween!"

He looked down at his hand as his boss unlocked the doors. There lay a small wrapped up package of homemade cookies. He blinked down at them stupidly before tucking them into spacious collar of his, now properly folded, haori. Upon following Kagome into the store, he wrinkled his nose.

"The hell is all this stuff for?" Kagome ignored the curse, used to his sometimes foul mouth and ignorant of it unless he turned it on a customer, which he never had.

"For Halloween, silly! I love to decorate the store for holidays— it's the best part! Come on, just grab something and make the store look as Halloween-y as you can!" Kagome was already moving around, stringing up silly pumpkin decals and placing decorative autumn leaves on bookshelves. Unsure of what to do, Inuyasha picked up what looked like a tiny squash with warts and squinted at it. "What is this supposed to be?"

"Aren't they cute? I ordered them online." Kagome bounced over and rifled through the box. "I got a whole bunch for a discount, so there might be more than you think. Have fun with it!" With a raised eyebrow, Inuyasha plunged his hands into the box of ridiculously bright and gaudy ornaments.

"Wait!" he called.

"Yes?" Kagome grinned and reached into the box as well, pulling out a large, purple and white beaded necklace. "I knew I still had this somewhere! I think this might go really well with your costume." She stood up on her tip toes and draped the necklace over his head. "There. Do you like it?"

"Looks like a collar." He raised an eyebrow skeptically at her. "You trying to say something?"

"No, it does not! It matches your outfit!"

"Does not."

"It's an old mala. Probably not as old as your outfit, but I think it goes along well." Kagome shrugged. "I won't force you to wear it, obviously. It's up to you."

Inuyasha huffed, but gave her a small, rare smile. "I'll wear it." He touched the necklace lightly. "Um, thanks. I'll remember to return it—"

Kagome waved a hand. "Nah, keep it. It's not like I've ever used or needed it."

As she left, Inuyasha looked down at his new necklace, deciding it didn't look so much like a collar after all.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Inuyasha was getting a slight case of orange-o-phobia, seeing as how a majority of the store was covered with the disgustingly bright color. It drew in crowds of people who caught sight of the lavish window displays, and were happily surprised when they were greeted with a smiling miko and warrior inside the store, ready to hand them candy.

"_It's more of an American tradition, but I think free candy is nice for everyone!" _Kagome had previously explained to him when he questioningly eyed the large bags of chocolate she was keeping under the counter. Needless to say, he never was a fan of chocolate. It made his stomach hurt terribly.

Around four or five in the evening, Kagome had warned Inuyasha of another children's event. "It'll be WAY bigger this time," she'd said sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier."

So there he was, standing in the midst of a bunch of adorable, costumed children huddled around him, trying to grab his sword or reach his ears while Kagome looked on a little unsurely, and Shippo, who decided to make an appearance that night, laughed his tail off.

"Are they real?" A little boy asked, trying to climb the hanyou in a desperate attempt to reach the man's ears.

"Yes, yes they're real," Inuyasha grumbled, delicately prying the boy off of him. He did his best to keep his long claws from ripping the boys' clothes and far from his skin.

Shippo snickered. "Aw, you poor puppy."

"You little—"Inuyasha stopped short, laughing at the kitsune. "The hell are you supposed to be?" Shippo huffed, and looked proudly down at his costume. "I'm a magician, and I can even do real magic tricks! See?" Shippo threw something down in a puff of smoke, and the next thing he knew, Inuyasha's hand were pinned to the ground with a stone statue of Buddha somehow weighing them down. He couldn't pull his hands out even using all of his strength.

"You had better get out of here, you—!" His eyes widened when Kagome stomped over and suddenly slapped a hand over her co-worker's mouth. "Shhh, Inuyasha, there are children here! Small, impressionable children!" She removed her hand from his mouth and pointed the large hordes of children behind them, watching them curiously with large eyes. "Now what's going on here?"

"Kagome!" Shippo whined with a pout. He pointed childishly at Inuyasha. "He made fun of my costume!"

"Did not! I asked what you were! And then you had the nerve to put this fuc—"

"INUYASHA!" She sighed loudly and pulled the ofuda holding the statue down, unfazed as they both disappeared in two loud bangs of smoke. "Inuyasha, don't provoke Shippo, and Shippo, don't do such things. It was rude, both of you."

"But—"

"Oi—"

"Just apologize to each other, please?" Kagome turned back to the children.

"Keh," Inuyasha huffed, looking to the side. "Sorry, I guess."

Shippo childishly stuck his tongue out at him. "Yeah, you better be!"

"You too, Shippo," Kagome said in a monotone voice, not even turning around to look at her two demonic friends.

Shippo paled slightly. He hated that tone. "Um, I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

Kagome's shoulders seem to relax. "Isn't that better? Now, let's all arrange ourselves into a circle. We're going to a play a game I think you all know."

* * *

Even a kid, Inuyasha had never played children's games. Now, as a grown adult, he was playing his first one. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't secretly kind of into it.

It was a story game, the "Halloween Edition", as Kagome liked to call it. Going around in the circle, the children recited a story, one word at a time.

It began with a word from Kagome — "there." It continued from her to Inuyasha, who added the next word, "was." From there, it flowed surprisingly smoothly; all of the children appeared to have become masters of this game, most likely by playing it quite often.

Together, they wove the spookiest of stories about a girl named Hanako-san who haunted school bathrooms. Occasionally, the children broke the story-telling mode in order to "correct" each other with details, modifying the story so that the toilet swallowed up the children, or that the bathroom was on the second, not the third, floor. Kagome just laughed and went along with it. Inuyasha supplied gory adjective and adverbs to add to the the nightmare fuel. They probably weren't going to sleep tonight anyways— it was just as well.

Halfway through the story, Inuyasha glanced through the store window and paled. Outside, the sun was painting the sky with the colors of the autumn leaves, almost completely sunk beneath the horizon. He scrambled to his feet and ran away from the circle.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome inquired after him, but when she received no response, simply shrugged. _Must have gone to use the bathroom. Oh well._

The game went without a hitch either way, and all of the children, and even Kagome, were delightfully spooked by the end of their little story telling session. She awarded all of the children with pieces of chocolate and wished them all a safe and fun Halloween. Shippo gave her a warm hug around the middle before cheekily accepting the many pieces of candy Kagome handed him and merrily heading on his way.

She shut and locked the door behind them, smiling widely. She had always loved the Halloween stories the children told. She found it displayed their creativity more than writing stories when they combined their talents and ideas.

Turning from the door, she realized with a frown that Inuyasha had not yet returned. Was he hiding? She sighed — she remembered the first event with the children she'd had and how he'd acted, but he wasn't _really _scared of kids — that would just be ridiculous. Besides, with his super hanyou hearing, shouldn't he know they were gone by now?

"Inuyasha?" No answer— her frown deepened. "Inu-YA-sha, the kids are all gone, you can come out now," she joked. Still, there was nothing.

"Did Hanako-san get you?" she tried again at an attempt at humor. She ascended the stairs, figuring he might be hiding out where he usually did — his beloved second floor overlook.

"Hello?" Her voice seemed to echo up there, and she noticed with a chill that the lighting up here was darker than she remembered. Hugging herself, she fearfully descended the stairs.

_Thump._

Her head snapped in the direction of the sound. "I-Inuyasha? Is that you?" _Please say yes_, she thought internally. She had never been one to get so easily frightened on Halloween, but the disappearance of a person was enough to rattle her.

Nearing the storage room, she slowly put her hand on the knob.

* * *

_Aw, fuck!_ Inuyasha cursed himself mentally when he accidentally knocked over a box in the dark and winced. He couldn't see a thing when he usually could, and it was pissing him off.

"I-Inuyasha? Is that you?" His eyes widened at the sound of his bosses voice. He could hear her faint footsteps slowly draw closer, and swung his head around looking for a place to hide.

Alas, if he could only _see._

The sound of the doorknob rattling made his heartbeat speed up, usually a difficult thing to do. While looking frantically for a place to hide, the door opened, hitting him head on with a stream of light.

Kagome's scream resonated through the store and he covered his ears on either side of his head. "What, what's wrong?" He asked, annoyed.

"INTRUDER!" She screamed, pointing at him. "Intruder! In-In..." She squinted and took a step forward. "Inuyasha…?

"Yes, it's me, I'm not some fucking robber," he grumbled, taking a step closer. The light shone down on him more, highlighting his now distinctly different features.

"What happened to you?" She took a lock of his black hair in her hands and inspected it curiously. "Is this part of your costume? Masquerading at a human?"

He jerked his head back, the piece of hair falling out of her hand. "No." He kept his gaze down. "I… am a human."

"You made a huge point when we met about you being a half-demon. Are you feeling okay?" She reached up to rest a hand on Inuyasha; forehead, subsequently tilting his head up at the same time. "Hmm, no fever, but…" She trailed off, finally seeing his eyes.

His _human _eyes— a dark color, almost purple, like Miroku's. Looking closer, she couldn't see the outline of contact lenses. "How...?"

"I told you," he began, shoving her hand away. "I'm human." He left the storage room, opting for the window instead. "See? No moon in the sky."

"…And?"

Inuyasha sighed. "The night of the new moon, once a month, I turn human. My mom tried to explain it to me— some crap about fluctuating energy between my demon and human energies." He grumbled angrily. "By sunrise, I'll be back to normal." He turned his eyes towards his boss, a small grimace hinting at the corner of his lips. "Um, I'm sorry for scaring you."

She waved a hand nonchalantly through the air. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm just relieved you weren't Hanako-san, about to shove me into the toilet."

Inuyasha snickered. "Hey, um, you've got to promise not to tell anybody about this, okay? It's a secret."

"Why?"

"Because I'm weak," he answered simply. "I'm human— weak, vulnerable, and ready for any hanyou-hating demon to kill now. Hell, Sesshomaru would have a field day if he ever found out about this."

"No, he wouldn't. He's your brother," Kagome admonished. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But don't worry, I won't tell a single soul."

* * *

The store had officially closed for the night, and Kagome and Inuyasha had just finished stripping the store of its Halloween decor.

"Will you be safe getting home tonight?" Inuyasha 'keh'ed. "Of course I will, I'm not just any weak human right now."

"You were just calling yourself a weak vulnerable human!"

"Yes, and now I'm saying I'm not just _any _weak, vulnerable human! There's a difference."

Kagome giggled. "Of course there is. Goodnight, Inuyasha, and happy Halloween."

"Night."

Kagome had barely turned the corner before she heard a muffled yelp and an audible 'thump'. Concern filled her as she quickly doubled back and stopped short in her tracks to stare.

There stood the human form of her employee, slashing at some strange spider creature with a thin, rusty katana that was obviously doing him no good, half covered in spider web silk and a thin stream of blood dribbling down the side of his head.

"Inuyasha!" Without a second thought, she grabbed an arrow from the quiver behind her back and narrowed her eyes, hitting the creature squarely between the eyes. It evanesced in a shower of lucid pink sparkles. Once it had fully disappeared, she ran over to Inuyasha and knelt down beside him.

"Are you alright?" She brought her hand up to try and dab away some of the blood, wincing when it still continued to run. "What was that?

"Yeah, I'll live. Besides, it'll be gone by sunrise," Inuyasha grunted, waving her hand away. "That was a spiderhead— it's kind of a type of annoying spider demon—" His head jerked up when she screamed. "What is it?"

She shakily gestured to several spiderheads emerging from the shadows. The misshapen human heads bore long fangs, dripping with some sort of poisonous fluid, and they advanced on six limbs. "There are more?!" She cried, taking a step back. "I don't think I've ever stood up to so many demons at once before."

Using his katana as a support, Inuyasha hefted himself to his feet and stepped forward. "Here." He pulled his sword sheath out of his obi and tossed it lightly towards Kagome. "No matter the form I'm in, that should still be able to put up a protecting barrier."

"But don't you—"

Completely ignoring her, Inuyasha rushed headfirst into the hoard of demons, surprising his boss as he easily managed to cut down a large number of them with his sword. Though not in its demon form, Tetsusaiga still had a surprising amount of strength when its true wielder swung it.

She watched in awe as, even though he was mildly injured, Inuyasha managed to lithely dodge many spiderheads coming his way, back-flipping and jumping high to avoid being caught by the horrid youkai. Snapping out of the daze of watching her coworker fight like he lived for it, she managed to shoot purity arrows into the demons Inuyasha missed.

So they unknowingly worked together, long range and close combat attacks slowly diminishing the spiderheads until they were completely gone from sight, and Kagome could no longer detect their auras.

The two breathed heavily, silent momentarily, before Kagome asked, "What was that?"

He turned to look at her. "What was what? The spiderheads? That was a demon attack, stupid."

"No, I know that, but…" She trailed off, frowning and looking unsettled. "I told you, we don't get a lot of attacks around here because of your brother. I wonder what's causing so many now? First there was the weird painter guy, and now these— it's really strange."

Inuyasha remained silent, but walked over to Kagome to retrieve his sword sheath. "Whatever it was, we can figure it out tomorrow." He looked the sheath over in his hands. "Seems like it took a liking to you, if it let you amplify the barrier with your own powers."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha snorted. "You didn't even notice? The barrier from the sheath— your spiritual powers strengthened it. This thing doesn't let just anyone mess with it, you know."

"Oh, wow." Kagome looked dumbfounded. "Thanks, then, I guess. What an honor to be respected by your almighty and powerful sword."

"Keh! Are you mocking it?"

"Now why would I do such a thing?"

All joking side, Kagome took a look at Inuyasha's forehead. "Hey, you're still bleeding; let me—"

"No, no, I'll be fine." Inuyasha messily wiped the blood off of his forehead with his haori sleeve and backed away from her, a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks.

Kagome sighed, but didn't attempt it again. "Are you sure?" Inuyasha nodded his head once.

"Okay, well, um… Thank you, for saving me from those spider demons. I don't think I could have done it on my own." A blush of her own rising to her cheeks, Kagome darted forward and hugged the stunned hanyou-turned-human around the middle, giggling a little when he tensed up.

Inuyasha, completely unsure of what to do, patted her on the head like she was a child. "Um, sure, no problem." He gently put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away. "Go home, it's getting late, okay? I promise I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Do you want me to walk you? I mean, you are human tonight, it must be harder to get home—"

"It won't be a problem," Inuyasha said sternly. "See ya tomorrow. Good night."

Watching him walk off with a tiny smile on her lips, Kagome whispered back, "Good night."

Back home, Inuyasha wandered into the kitchen, exhausted, and sat down on a chair. He reached into the holds on his haori, extracting the package Kagome had given him before.

Not a single cookie was broken.

* * *

A/N: I'm not as good at suspense and surprise as I want to be, but oh well.

I looked up Halloween in Japan and found that it's only a recent fad in Japan. People dress up, carve pumpkins, just like American's do, and they even have Halloween festivals. I didn't find much on trick-or-treating, so to be on the safe side, I decided to leave it out (Kinda.)

Hanako-san of the Toilet (or _Toire no Hanko-san_) is a real Japanese urban legend, of the ghost of a young girl who died in WWII. She haunts school bathrooms, appearing when someone enters the third stall of a girl's bathroom on the third floor and shouts her name three times. Anyone who knows the Bloody Mary game can see some sort of resemblance here. I do NOT own this story.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I am so very sorry for not updating in a while. I was trying to do research about Japanese court, and there is a lot going on there. I didn't actually know how to incorporate it into this chapter, so I put in a flashback because I want to start bringing the trial scene in. Honestly, I'm still really confused with where this story is going, but I'm trying my best!

Also, we had an onslaught of tests and projects at school, so it was a little hard getting away from that to write this.

Have you guys seen my new story? It's a one-shot so far, but it'll be updating into a collection of one-shots. For anyone who likes how brotherly and sisterly the cast can be to each other, please check it out!

So, um, yeah. If I ever take too long to update again someone come yell at me in a scathing PM.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Never have, never will (sadly).

* * *

_"Court is now in session..."_

_No matter how hard he blinked, everything was still blurry. Shadows and streaks of colors moved quickly across all parts of the room before settling down noisily. The sharp sounds of benches and chairs moving made him cringe as he flattened the ears atop of his head._

_"...murder trial of Inuyasha Takahashi..." A male voice rung through the courtroom in gravelly slow-motion. He blinked more as he felt his head slowly move from side to side, a strange and disoriented fashion unfamiliar to him. He felt like he was floating._

_"...accused of the murder of well-known and renowned high priestess Kikyo, on the day of..."_

_The man's voice was bothering him, and he tried to tune it out, but it was like it was being directly fed into his ears. He blinked and tried to focus on something in front of him, but all he could make out were distinctive blurs that highlighted what he assumed to be a courtroom. _

_"...may call your first witness to the stand..."_

_"...calls Botan Shibata to the stand..."_

_He tried to keep his head up long enough to see the barely teenaged girl making her way to the stand. Blue, white, and long sleeves... he smiled to himself a little. She had a blue version of Kikyo's outfit, kinda..._

_Kikyo..._

_Was she here? In this place? The man had mentioned her name before, but he forgot what he was talking about. He frowned and tried to look around the blurry, lucid place. All it did was give him an immense headache and he scoffed, trying to shake it off. The movement of his head made the pain's intensity multiply and he immediately stopped. _

_"...calls Kaede Kimura to the stand..."_

_He knew a Kaede. He was almost positive— his eyes managed to follow a short figure as she walked solemnly to the stand. When she started speaking, he startled at the high pitched childish voice. What was a kid doing here? He opened his mouth to protest , but found it was difficult to move his suddenly heavy lips. _

_Inuyasha yawned widely and found himself falling deeper into the lucid state..._

* * *

With an almost comical start, Inuyasha sat up straight in bed with his mouth wide open and panting. He ran a hand through his hair and blinked his eyes several times. Nothing was blurry, and he closed his eyes in relief.

Was it a dream? A weird flashback? He snorted. It was obviously a dream, albeit the first one he had ever had about his court session.

He wrinkled his nose in distaste. That was the one day...

With a heavy sigh he forced the thoughts out of his head and climbed out of his bed. He couldn't remember ever sleeping on a daily basis, but it was a thing now. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

As he descended the stairs and headed towards his living area, one thought form the dream wouldn't push from his head no matter how hard he tried

_Kaede..._

He could vaguely remember her— she was Kikyo's little sister, also a miko, but a far weaker one. She was his best defense for the trial, yet she still wasn't enough. Maybe it was the fact she was a child...?

A child...

After fifty years, would he find Kaede alive now?

* * *

Inuyasha walked into the open store, confused since Kagome usually came at the exact same time he did, until he saw her reason for being in so early. She and his half-brother were discussing something fervently on the other side of the counter. Disregarding their conversation, he frowned and stormed over them, moving to stand next to Kagome behind the counter.

"Oi! What are you doing here?" He growled at his older relative, obviously angered by his presence.

He was met with a cool, bored glance. "Discussing what escalated last night between some spider demons in the area and _you_, half-breed."

Inuyasha sputtered and his face drastically changes colors to a shade of red. "Kagome! You told him?"

"No, he already knew. And don't call him a half-breed, Sesshomaru-sama," she said, frowning at the demon lord. He ignored her last comment and raised an eyebrow at Inuyasha.

"You believed I had no knowledge of your human night? How foolish, little brother."

"How do you know about it, anyways?" Hr gripped the counter top, his nails digging lightly into the wood.

"There is little that I do not know." He moved to face Kagome again. "Back to our discussion—"

"Which was about?" Inuyasha rudely interrupted. Kagome sighed and looked at him. "He and I were discussing the recent fluctuation in demon attacks in the area. Since we've encountered two, he was asking me for information about them."

"Two?"

"The hell painter, remember? And then the spider-heads from yesterday."

Inuyasha snickered. "Can't protect your own land now, you bastard?" Said bastard growled and launched a poison-whip at his brother, who yelped and dodged it. "Watch it, bastard, you're indoors!"

"I care not."

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Kagome gaped at him. "If you two are going to fight, at least do it outside, away from my precious bookstore." She glared at the two of them.

"What the fuck did I do?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Kagome.

"You provoked him. Now if you please, Sesshomaru-sama, back to what we were discussing."

"Yes. I do believe I was about to tell you," he began, eyes flickering towards Inuyasha's faster than anyone could follow. "Why such attacks are rising."

"Well, why didn't you start with that?" Kagome eagerly leaned forward and clasped her hands together. "What is it? The sooner we know the sooner we can get rid of it."

"Indeed. What a better place the world would be without it." Again, the demon lord narrowed his eyes Inuyasha's way.

"Why the hell do you keep on looking at me like that, bastard?" Inuyasha gritted his teeth, his hands fisting tightly at his sides.

"Because, half-breed, the cause is you."

After a few choice words from her newest employee and a close encounter with the landlord's dokkaso, she had quickly escorted the latter out of the store after admonishing him for even thinking of saying such a thing. Sesshomaru, of course, brushed her off and exited _Shikon _silently.

She huffed angrily at the momentary spat before turning around, surprised to find Inuyasha standing there, looking down at his feet, instead of angry like she had expected him to be.

"Come on, Inuyasha, I think we have some cleaning up to do from yesterday still. Those kids dropped some wrappers into the dark corners, I'm sure of it." She paused when she noticed he was not moving from his spot. "Inuyasha?"

"He's right, you know." It was so quiet that Kagome's human ears barely managed to catch it.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?"

"What Sesshomaru said."

Inhaling sharply, Kagome grabbed the crook of his elbow and dragged him into the alcove. His eyes widened as he stumbled behind her. "What now?"

They plopped down into two separate chairs and Kagome glared at him. "I can't believe _you _would believe what Sesshomaru said. He didn't even have any evidence!"

"That's because you kicked him out!"

"I did not 'kick him out', I kindly escorted him away. Now what's this all about?"

"It's about..." Inuyasha sighed, leaning forward and running a hand tiredly through his hair. "It's about how this started. How those attacks started when I got out of prison."

"So? Coincidences happen." Kagome tilted her head to the side. "You have a very low self-esteem, that's not really good for you. Let's work on that later."

He shot her a glare, his golden eyes burning slightly. "I don't think you understand. With me being here, more attacks are just gonna happen around here. Haven't you noticed we went an dealt with both of those attacks? It wasn't a coincidence." He looked back down. "You oughta let me go before this gets any worse."

"Let you go?"

"Fire me."

It was silent for a moment or two. Kagome stood up and walked over to Inuyasha,pushing him lightly so she could sit next to him on the chair. Inuyasha's cheeked flamed slightly, before he awkwardly shifted himself so he and Kagome were no longer so squished.

"I don't care what you say. It isn't your fault, and I'm not letting you go." Inuyasha sighed at her stubbornness and moved to stand. Kagome hand grabbed his forearm and pulled him back down with a surprising show of strength. "Sit!" He flinched a little and did what she asked.

"Can we just forget about this? You are not going anywhere, alright? I refuse to believe this is your fault, any of it, because you know what? It isn't."

She took advantage of his silence to hesitantly reach up and, with a tiny grin, stroked the side of one of his twitching ears.

"What the hell?!" He jerked away, and Kagome leaned forward, desperately trying to grab the furry white appendages again. "No! Please? They're so soft."

"Gah!" He hopped up off the chair and lightly pushed Kagome back onto it. "Don't touch them!"

A look of fear came over Kagome's face. "Oh no, did I hurt you? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"What? No, I just—" He cautiously took another step back in case she tried to grab them again. "I'm just not used to it. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Kagome pouted, but stood up and grunted. "Fine, fine. How about those candy wrappers now, huh?"

* * *

Kagome sneezed into the sleeve of her shirt, then sniffled. "Is it just me, or is really dusty in here?"

Inuyasha shrugged, easily hearing her words from his usual position, standing guard above the first floor. "Just you."

"I'll—" She sneezed again, louder this time. "I'll be back. There's a broom in the back."

He nodded, and kept an eye on the customers milling about the store, making sure no one took advantage of the seemingly unguarded cash register. One in particular caught his eye, which widened instantly at the sight. Without a second thought he got to his feet and practically flew over the half the store to stand behind them.

There was no denying the strangely cut sidelocks and high ponytail. She was even wearing the magenta eyeshadow that seemed to be tattooed onto her eyelids.

"Sango?" 'Sango' squealed and jumped into the air before whirling around with her hands in a fighting gesture. "Who—? Oh my goodness!" Inuyasha opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the woman jumped and hugged him tightly around his neck. The tips of her toes barely brushed the floor as she awkwardly embraced the taller man.

Before he could return the gesture, she had fallen back onto her own feet. "Inuyasha! I had no idea you'd be around here! It's so nice to see you!"

"U-um, yeah, you too. What are you doing around here?" He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, though inside he was relieved to see such a familiar face.

"Even I have free time, Inuyasha. I happen to love reading, if you must know." She grinned brightly up at him. "How about you? A secret book lover yourself?"

"Keh, storybooks are for sissies. I work here." He crossed his arms over his chest proudly.

"You got a job?" Sango was unable to keep the guilty surprise out of her voice, and cringed once the words left her mouth.

"That hard to believe?" Sango rushed to apologize, but Inuyasha beat her to it. "Don't worry about it. It's not like I got hired by the first place I walked into._ Shikon _was just pure luck."

"Inuyasha?" Both friends turned to see Kagome waving and coming towards them. "Oooh, who's your friend?" The rhetorical question was thrown out the window as Kagome extended a hand and shook Sango's enthusiastically. "Hi, I'm Kagome!"

Her enthusiasm was returned in full. "I'm Sango, Inuyasha's friend. You must work here, too."

Kagome pointed at Inuyasha. "We work together, but I'm his boss, technically." She returned her attention to Sango, gesturing to the uniform the woman was wearing. "You work as a police officer?"

She glanced at Inuyasha a little awkwardly, who was fumbling around with his haori sleeve at that point. "Yeah, I, um, I work with the Tokyo Metropolitan Demon Police. I'm a superintendent." She pointed to the emblem signifying her rank on the uniform.

"Wow, that's so cool! The job, I mean. And the uniform too— blue looks really good at you!" She beamed, glad to have met someone who knew Inuyasha besides his own brother. "So how do you two know each other?"

"We're not dating." Sango was quick to assure Kagome, and winked in her direction when the white-haired man wasn't looking. Kagome sent her a confused look and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it when she quickly caught on to what the officer was saying. "Oh... well I guessed that. But how did you guys become friends?"

Inuyasha sent her a questioning glare. "Why does it matter?"

"Because before now, I was under the pretense you were a lonely hermit." Sango exchanged a look with Inuyasha, who nodded once.

"I met Inuyasha when I was really little and he was in, well, you know..."

"Oh...?" Kagome frowned and wrinkled her brow in confusion before she realized what was being entailed "Oh, I see. Well that's cool, if you still remember each other after such a long time."

Sango sighed, almost in complete relief, at the girls understanding and obliviousness. "Well, no, I met him when my dad brought me in to work that day. I kept seeing him after I became an official officer working in the demon section of the Correctional Precinct." She smiled wistfully at the dog demon. "It's kind of messed up, growing up while at the same time you're constantly seeing someone stay the same age. Oh well." She poked her friend in the shoulder. "It just makes him easier to remember."

"Well he's a little hard to forget. It's not everyday you meet someone with white hair and bright yellow eyes."

"I don't think his hair is _white, _it's more like a silver color."

"I know, I was just saying to emphasize the point."

"Ah, I see. Would you believe when I was little I thought he was a crazy old man who had really good skin and was a hippie?"

"Really? Because his hair was so long?"

"Yeah, and—"

Sango's voice was cut off as the half-demon cleared his throat loudly, shooting them both an annoyed glance. "Can we not discuss me while I'm standing right here?"

"You're right, let's go sit down somewhere! It's lunch hour anyways! Come join us, Sango!"

"That's not what I fucking mea—"

"Inuyasha, not while there are people around!"

"Would you believe he was well behaved compared to his prison-mates?"

"Geez, I would have hated to see what they looked like!"

"Don't you have some sweeping to do or something?" He shouted at Kagome's retreating back. He grumbled when he was ignored and begrudgingly followed the two women out.

* * *

Inuyasha growled silently to himself, stabbing his ramen with his fork as he eyed the two women sitting across from him, once again gossiping about him like his presence was nowhere nearby.

"—I remember one time when I was thirteen or fourteen, I was sitting with him inside the cell, and I was trying to touch his ears, but he wouldn't let me."

"Me neither! Well, I touched them once, this morning, actually, but that was because I caught him off-guard."

"You did not catch me off—"

"Lucky! Were they soft?"

"I barely touched them, but yeah, I think so."

"Hey, can we touch them now?" Inuyasha stared with horror at the two girls eying him, well, more like his ears, with wide eyes. He narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs, flattening his ears so that they blended with his identically-colored hair. "No, you cannot," he hissed.

"Don't worry, Kagome," Sango reassured the other girl. "He's all bark and no bite."

"I know. He can be a real sweetie sometimes. Once, I was falling off this ladder, right? And—"

Inuyasha groaned and hid behind his too-long hair, deciding his ramen was a good candidate for a distraction at the moment.

* * *

He shot daggers into the back of Sango, desperately wishing the girl would leave. While it was nice to see her again, the relief was short lived once she had started sharing stories about him like a mother would about her children when they were babies.

"Hey, don't you have a job or something to get back to?" Sango looked surprised to hear Inuyasha speak. "Oh I forgot you were here, Inuyasha. Sorry about that." In response, he growled menacingly and his eyebrow twitched.

"Now, lets not start a fight or anything," Kagome said, making a placating gesture with her hands.

"Why not?" Sango asked. "I could use a decent training partner." She looked at Inuyasha over her shoulder and held her hand up next to her mouth as if it would keep him from hearing her next words. "I think that's the only reason he liked me— I'd always get him outside so he could practice fighting with me," she said in a conspiratory stage-whisper, and Kagome giggled.

"Why would you practice fighting?" Kagome curiously asked.

"There's no point being a demon police officer unless I can practice fighting a demon, is there?" Her eyes darted to Inuyasha and back. "I'd totally do that now, but he has a job right now, doesn't he?"

"So do you!"

"Yes, but I'm off-duty today, Inuyasha."

"Then what's with the uniform?"

"It scares the general public away." Kagome nodded at the answer. "That's really smart. Maybe I should buy one of those."

Inuyasha snorted. "Why? It's not like you're going to get attacked."

Kagome smiled and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, because you'll protect me, right?" Her co-worker turned a fascinating shade of red and jerked away from her hand. "Uh... sure?"

"That's still a yes."

* * *

The store closed early due to a lull in customers, and Kagome went off to her home alone. Inuyasha and Sango were left at the door.

"So..." Sango began, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Um..." Inuyasha awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Which way do you go?" Sango prompted. Inuyasha ducked his head in the general direction of his house. "Mine is that way too. Let's walk together?" Sango smiled when he agreed and two walked away from _Shikon _together in silence.

"So how's your job?" Sango asked after a while.

"It's um," Inuyasha tilted his head to the side. "It's good, I guess. It's not really hard, and I think I get overpaid. I talked to Kagome about it once, and I'm pretty sure she lied and told me it was normal pay."

"How much?"

"Around thirty-five or thirty-six hundred yen per hour."

Sango smiled. "You're right. That seems like an awful lot. You're the only other person who works there, right? I guess it's fair to her to pay her one helper more than average. Besides, you kind of need it."

Inuyasha snorted. "I'm not a charity case."

"You're not, and I'm positive Kagome doesn't think so either. She seems really sweet." She paused for a second before continuing. "Say, are the two of you dating?"

Inuyasha stumbled. "What? No! No, we're not. Where did that come from?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Sango smiled softly. "You act so differently around her. You don't act like, you know, like you're about to lash out at the next person who breathes in your direction."

Inuyasha winced. "I-I wasn't really like that..."

"Oh, yes you were. But that's okay. You had a really good reason. I guess we're all glad we put you in a single cell instead of a roommate," Sango joked. She looked at her companion, but his face was still somber.

"Hey, cheer up. You're changing for the better now, and that's all that matters." They stepped off a sidewalk and into the road.

"Yeah," Inuyasha grunted. "How are things back at the place?"

"Less fun ever since you left. None of the other inmates are as nice as you. I can't practice fighting with anyone now."

Inuyasha grinned, one of his fangs glinting. "Wasn't like you ever beat me anyways."

"That's because I let you win." Sango grinned back. "Have you got anything to do? I'm up for a good spar right now."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Fine."

The two turned to the left, heading for the large expanse of unguarded forest.

* * *

With a loud _thunk_, Sango was knocked hard onto her back quite a few feet from where she had been standing, and Inuyasha came to stand victoriously over her. Though his smile was cocky, the delight in his eyes was childish. "Did you let me win this time, too?" he mocked. Sango grumbled but didn't say anything. He extended a hand and yanked her onto her feet.

"Thanks." Sango looked over at him in shock. "I haven't done that in a while, it feels. Well, for fun, you know. Have you heard about that—"

"Yes, I've heard," Sango said. "I was a little surprised you were involved in them. Looks good on your moral record, you know? Helping out helpless humans."

He snorted. "It was my fault they were here in the first place. Might as well take care of them." Sango frowned. "Your fault?

"Haven't you noticed? The attacks started up once I got out of prison. I've been involved with all of them." Sango coughed. "Yeah, all two of them." He shot her a piercing glare, but it bounced right off her.

"Oh, stop putting yourself down. Every bad thing in the world is not your fault. I know that, Kagome knows that, and you should also know that. Anyways, it's getting late." She clapped her friend on the back and gave him a sad smile. "See you around, huh, Inuyasha? If I see you the next time without a smile on your face, I'm kicking your ass." Without waiting for his reply, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Inuyasha looked up at the sky. The stars looked like they were swirling around the nighttime ceiling.

* * *

A/N: I must say I hate the court "scene" in this chapter, but there's really nothing I can do except go back and revise once I read up on Japan's court system. Right now I'm basing it off the U.S Court, so it's obviously not going to be the exact same thing. A HUGE thank you to **Shirahime-Shou95 **for the help with debunking Japan's court. I'll be reading as much about it as I can over the coming winter break. There might be another huge lapse in updating for this story, but I'll do my best.

Again, thank you to my many reviewers. You guys are all super sweet and wonderful! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (US) and that you have Happy Holidays (everywhere!).


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: So here's a bit of a fluffy, and somewhat plot-less chapter in time for the holidays. I want to thank all my reviewers, readers, followers, and even people that clicked on the link, said 'nah' after a few words, and left, never to be seen again.

You ALL rock. So here's the only kind of Christmas present I ca give you. Or Hanukkah, or any other holiday you celebrate If you don't celebrate the holidays, to celebrate winter, or the end of the year.

I love you all!

Disclaimer: *insert clever holiday pun with disclaimer about not owning Inuyasha here*

* * *

An approximate three months had passed since Inuyasha had first begun working at _Shikon_. He had become used to her antics by now, making sure he always asked in advance if there were going to be any special readings or celebrations he had to brace himself for.

This time, it was Christmas.

It was much more popular now in Japan than it had been fifty years ago. In fact, Inuyasha was almost positive they weren't celebrating it the right way, considering it was meant to be a religious holiday, but it wasn't like it mattered to him.

Aside from the fact that the tradition of presents had been brought overseas to Japan.

Inuyasha sneezed when he stepped through the front doors of the Sunshine City mall in Ikebukoro. There was a disgustingly large amount of humans crowding the place, obviously here with the same intent as he— present buying.

Knowing Kagome, she was planning on buying him a gift. His pride wasn't going to let him be in debt to her, so he planned ahead by buying her a gift.

If only he had planned ahead enough to know what to buy her.

He had contemplated asking Sango for help, then realized he didn't know her phone number, nor did he feel like visiting his old prison to find her. Miroku was still a slightly seedy character in his head and he sure as hell wasn't about to ask Sesshomaru for advice on girls.

He was on his own.

Granted, he was armed with a decent sum of money he had made from his job, and with that he was prepared to buy her a decent gift.

As he walked down the floor, he glanced up only to look into store windows briefly. If they were clothing stores or food stores, he walked by them. He wasn't keen on going into any large department stores, either. He assumed Kagome would like something from a smaller, less popular store.

_Maybe something book related?_ He asked himself. The store in front of him was a little shop in the corner, vintage and unique items lining the window display. Little dolls, old books, and various trinkets caught his eye as he cautiously sniffed at the air around the store. It was definitely a human store— all the better for him. After patting his head once more to make sure his ears were obscured by his bandana, he strolled inside.

A strange, musty scent like dust hit his nose. He wrinkled it and tried not to let it bother him as he made his way to a random shelf. The lighting was dim, but luckily for him, he could see well enough with his eyes.

"Can I help ye?"

A gravelly but strong voice reached him, and Inuyasha turned around.

Imagine his surprise when he saw a familiar red hakama and black eye patch on an elderly young woman with a very, _very _familiar scent.

"Kaede?!"

* * *

Kaede smiled when she peered out her store window. There, in all his wary and shy glory, was the man she had been seeking out ever since she'd heard the news he left prison. The silver hair stuck out like a sore thumb, and his aura was so prominent to her that she couldn't help not ignoring it.

Hope rose within her when she saw him make his way towards her shop. Whether he was coming to see her or her wares, she did not know, but either way, they were finally going to meet again after all this time.

He walked to a shelf opposite her, not noticing her presence until she approached him. "Can I help ye?"

His reaction was quite amusing, and she ford herself not to laugh outright at the boy's antics and surprise.

"Kaede?!"

She let the smile drift back onto her face. "Yes, Inuyasha, 'tis I. It is a relief to see ye still recognize me."

He scoffed. "How could I forget you? You were that annoying brat sister of Kikyo's." She did not miss how he choked slightly on the last word in that sentence. "'Course you're an old hag now." He smirked. "Strange, isn't it? I'm technically older than you, but I look _decades _younger."

Kaede sighed. "A shame, isn't it? What I wouldn't do to be young again..." She drifted off sadly. "I has been quite a while, Inuyasha. I apologize for not coming to see ye while ye were... away... more often."

Inuyasha grunted. "The fact that you did at least once is good enough. I hope you know it didn't go unappreciated."

Kaede shook her head. "No, I should have come to see ye more. I didn't do a very good job of keeping ye out of jail in the first place, did I?"

He frowned. "S'not your fault. Blame your age if you have to. Not everyone's gonna believe a little kid when they say murder didn't happen when all other facts point to yes."

She held her hand up. "Please I don't want to talk about..."

"Me neither."

They looked at each other for a while before breaking the silence between them. "I take it ye didn't come here to reminisce with an old lady, did ye? Perhaops I can help you find what ye are looking for."

"Well, uh..." He scratched the back of his had awkwardly. "It's a gift for my boss... I'm not sure what she would like, though..."

"Ah, 'she'?" Kaede's one eye twinkled. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.

"It's nothing like that, babaa. I'm just being polite."

"Ye, polite?" Inuyasha growled at her word, and she simply laughed. "All right, Inuyasha, what do you think she would need?"

"Pepper spray." At Kaede's confused look, he hastily elaborated. "She always walks home alone at night, and then there's demons everyone, so—"

Kaede held a hand up. "I understand. Something for protection?"

"Well, yeah... Can that be given as a gift?"

Kaede cracked a smile. "I don't see why not." She gestured him over to a corner of the store. "Old antique weapons that I've collected. They're quite nice, and I believe your girl might like one of them."

"Damn it, she's not my—"

"Can she use a bow?" Inuyasha blinked out of mild surprise.

"Yeah, she can, actually. She's a miko, you know. Just like K—" He coughed and cut himself off. "Just like you, I meant."

Kaede looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but said nothing more. She reached for a large longbow, bright red and incredibly striking. "This, Inuyasha, is the sacred longbow of Mount Azusa, and it is meant for the hand of a strong priestess." Her smile grew as she handed it to him. "I do believe your friend could use this."

Inuyasha took it from her hands and looked it over. The middle of the wooden bow was wrapped in white gauze, and the long black string, he tested with a finger, was sturdy and thick.

"I take it that it is to your liking?" Kaede chuckled.

"Yeah, it's great." He moved the bow to one hand and dug around in his pocket for his wallet. "How much do I ow—" Kaede shook her head vigorously and waved him off.

"Nay, Inuyasha, ye owe me nothing. Consider it a holiday gift."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. "Listen, babaa, I'm not leaving until I give you—" The next thing Inuyasha knew, the store glowed pink and he promptly flew through the door. "What the fu—"

Kaede waved to him cheerily through the now closed and locked door of the store. "Merry Christmas, Inuyasha!" She called through the doors. Inuyasha gaped at her and looked down at his hand. He was still holding the bow of Mount Azusa, and all the money he had come to the mall with.

Kaede watched, a little forlornly, as the hanyou slowly made his way out of the mall, picking his path carefully so he bumped into nobody. She remembered the last time she had seen him, almost a whole half-century ago.

* * *

_A young Kaede, flowery yellow kimono and eye patch present, walked nervously behind the kind man who had said he was in charge of this part of the prison. He was kind to her, smiling and answering her every question. He had a tiny ponytail at the top of his head, and hair on his face, too. _

_Rogue demons bared their fangs at her through their prison cells, holding onto the cell bars threateningly as if they were going to break them and lunge at her. She closed her eyes, trying to move closer to the kind officer and away from the leers of the demons._

_"Don't worry." Kaede looked up in surprise when the officer spoke. "These bars are special— not even the strongest of demons can break through them." Kaede nodded and bit her lip, but nonetheless eyed all of the cells around her warily._

_"Inuyasha?" She looked up hopefully when the man above her spoke the name. "There's someone here to see you." _

_"Keh, who the hell would come to see me?" She peeked out from behind the officer's legs and watched the half demon jump a little in surprise at her face. "Hi, Inuyasha-nii-sama!"_

_He gaped at her as the officer swung open the cell gate and ushered her inside. "Just call when you're done talking, all right?" Kaede nodded eagerly. "Inuyasha, I can trust you with this young girl all alone, can't I?" Inuyasha scoffed, but nodded. "Then I'll see you both soon." He waved at Kaede before closing the door behind him and leaving._

_Kaede looked around the small room she was in now. There was a short cot in the corner, an empty table and hardly much else. It was bare and boring, but a few streams of light came through from the window situated on the far wall. _

_"Oi." Kaede was startled out of her observations by Inuyasha's reprimanding tone. "What are you doing her,e kid? This isn't a place for little human runts."_

_"I came to see you," Kaede replied. She sat up on the cot beside Inuyasha. She hung her head and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I felt so bad."_

_Inuyasha frowned. "What the hell for?"_

_Kaede sniffled. "Isn't it my fault you're in here?" To Inuyasha's horror, she burst into tears._

_"How is it your fault? _

_"I-I was talking to you w-when sister got k-killed," she managed out through her sobs. "If I didn't you would have stopped him, right?"_

_After glancing around to make sure no one could see him, Inuyasha scooted closer to the little girl and patted her on the head. "Um, don't cry..." He said awkwardly. "That's not your fault." And it honestly wasn't. Kaede hadn't known that her sister was about to get murdered. _

_"A-and the man in the c-court, he didn't believe m-me either!" Kaede burst into another round of tears. "Oh, Inuyasha-nii-sama, it's all my fault! I'm so sorry!" She leaned forward and buried her face into one of his sleeves. To the surprise of both of them, Inuyasha shifted so his arm was gingerly around her instead._

_Once her crying died down, only then had he managed to figure out what to say. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, kid. I don't think you ever did."_

* * *

After managing to find a box long enough to hold such a gigantic bow, Inuyasha had clumsily wrapped it and put it aside before he could guilt himself over the poor wrapping job.

It was fairly late, almost midnight, but he knew he didn't need the sleep. He'd much rather prefer running when no one was out to see him.

Which was exactly what he did.

He had push back the grin that threatened to break out on his face as he hopped roofs, his hair blowing wildly out behind him. Anyone that happened to look up from the nearly dead quiet streets below would see a frightening flash of red and silver before it darted away. He'd heard at least one hopeful "Santa?" from some passerby as he went on his way.

He frowned when he realized he was taking his usual route from home to work. He flopped down form the roof into a crouch, landing dead center in front of the store's window. It was dark and quiet, obviously, and he couldn't help but to take note on how small it seemed on the inside, when it was a cavernous book nook on the inside.

He leaped back onto the roof again, his eyes surveying the city. Lights scattered the tall buildings, and factories still filled the air with a scent that made Inuyasha wrinkle his nose. He couldn't, for the life of him, see what humans found so appealing about the utter fake-ness of the landscape, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it now.

What caught Inuyasha's eye was a large part of the city that was much dimmer in comparison— the Higurashi shrine — where Kagome lived with her family. She was right in the sense that it wasn't very far from the store. The shrine itself was completely impressive— old fashioned architecture and a long path of stairs leading up to it had more beauty in them than Inuyasha could appreciate in the highly advanced city of Tokyo.

Against his better judgement, he made an easy flying leap to the center of the courtyard above the steps of the shrine. All the lights inside were off, but he hadn't expected anybody to be awake. He could distinguish Kagome's scent from the four others that lingered around the outside of the house.

Much to his disdain, one of the other scents was a cat's. He wrinkled his nose and tried to ignore it. Then he reminded himself he was stalking Kagome.

The jolt of realization made him panic slightly, as though she was about to find out he was there, and without another thought he turned and leapt back into the night.

* * *

Inuyasha looked down at the first Christmas gift he had received that day. It was from Kagome, of course— the second he had stepped into the store, she ran over with an eager look on her face and promptly handed him a nicely wrapped gift with a fancy bow in top.

He had immediately felt waves of guilt rush when he realized his present was horribly wrapped in comparison and cursed himself for not trying harder. He pushed the thought out of his mind and settled for unwrapping the pretty gift — after thanking her, of course— as carefully as he could as to not appear rude.

It wasn't a gift he had expected, but it was something he knew he would appreciate.

"I, um, I wasn't sure what you might like, but then I saw that online and thought it might interest you," Kagome said, biting her lip nervously. Inuyasha nodded and turned over his brand new book on the art of samurai sword techniques, eying it appreciatively.

"Thanks a lot," he replied gruffly. He was way more interested in it than he let on, Kagome could tell. His eyes were practically dancing with excitement as he flipped through random pages.

She laughed. "I'm so glad you like it." She paused before gesturing to the gift Inuyasha had handed her beforehand. "Can I open it now?" At his raised eyebrow, she squealed and practically tore open the bag. "Oh, you wrapped it yourself! I feel horrible, mine came pre-wrapped!"

Inuyasha choked on his next inhale. Kagome might have too, when she opened the gift, but he wasn't that focused on it because he was cheering on the inside.

"Oh my goodness, Inuyasha, it's so beautiful..." She trailed off as she ran her hands over the delicately crafted red-dyed wood, and stared at her new longbow. "This totally beats my gift."

Inuyasha almost laughed. "Of course it is." Kagome shot him a glare, and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, thank you either way. Merry Christmas, Inuyasha." He wasn't too surprised to see her hug him, and he made sure he returned the hug.

"Yeah, you too," he grunted.

* * *

Inuyasha ran back into the store, tossing a small cardboard box at Kagome. "Here. It was the last one at the store." She mumbled out a 'thank-you' before ripping it open and holding a tissue to her nose just as she began her next round of sneezes.

She sniffled loudly and Inuyasha drawled, "How the hell do you get yourself sick in less than five hours?" Kagome gave him a sheepish smile before coughing lightly into the tissue.

"You try to catch snowflakes on your tongue?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. "Hey! It hardly snows in this city! I don't get the chance to do that a lot." Inuyasha snorted, but dropped the subject.

He looked back at her when she began to sneeze again. "Do you want to leave early? Ya shouldn't be working when you're all sneeze-y and stuff."

Through a stuffed nose, Kagome said, "Inuyasha, sneeze-y is not a word. And no, I'm not closing early. Never have, and never will." Inuyasha scoffed.

"You can't just stand there and be sick while you work." Before Kagome could protest, Inuyasha was next to her and sweeping her off her feet. She squeaked, then covered her face with another tissue when she began to cough again. She didn't want her only other worker to get sick too. She blushed brightly when some of the customers shot interested looks their way.

Kagome was deposited in a chair in the alcove, where she promptly curled up and turned towards the lit fireplace.

"Thank," she coughed, "you." Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Keh. It's not that crowded, I've got it all, okay?" She watched with slightly tired eyes as he moved through the barely crowded store, helping out the few customers and ringing up their items. She was surprised— had she even taught him how to work the register?

It wasn't long before she managed to fall asleep.

* * *

"Kagome." She furrowed her eyebrows and shifted in her comfortable position. "Oi, Kagome." Something began to poke her in the side and she twitched. "Wake up, wench, it's time to leave." Her eyes fluttered open. What had he said? But it was only midday...

"You've been asleep for a few hours."

Oh. That answered that question. She tried to sit up and managed after a few measly attempts. She winced when se could feel her body burning once it left the cool material of the couch.

"Um, I'm sorry," she began awkwardly. "For falling asleep on you... again..."

He waved her off. "S'fine, there was almost no one here the whole time. I was mostly just rearranging the shelves and putting new stuff in." Inuyasha tossed Kagome her jacket, purse, and gift. "Put 'em on, I'll walk you home."

Kagome gave him a surprised look. "Oh, no, you don't have to—"

"Look, I'm not going to let you walk home _sick _like that. Hurry up, let's go," he said impatiently. She grumbled, but managed to slip her jacket and scarf on. She opted for clutching her purse and gift to her chest once they were outside, as though she were shielding herself from the cold. Snow fell lightly over them, hardly a flurry of it, but nonetheless there.

"No more eating snow, unless you want to get even sicker," Inuyasha admonished. "Can you walk?" He had led her outside with a firm hold on her arm, seeing as she couldn't keep her balance well.

"I sure hope so." Kagome gave him a brilliant smile, before almost plummeting onto her knees. Inuyasha sighed.

"Here, get on." Kagome looked down in surprise to see Inuyasha kneeling in front of her. "I'll give you a ride."

Awkwardly, Kagome managed to clamber onto his back in jeans and an annoying purse and gift in the way, but secured herself on his back nonetheless.

"I hope you're not scared of heights." Before she could question him, he was flying through the air towards her shrine. She 'eeped', then let herself relax when she realized she couldn't fall.

"Which one is your room?" Kagome looked up sleepily from Inuyasha shoulder, surprised to see they were already in front of her house.

"Why?" she asked.

"If the window's open, you can get in faster. Which one is it?" Warily, she pointed to the one on the far left. "You had better not remember which window looks into my room, mister."

Inuyasha snorted. "Wouldn't dream of it." He leaped onto the awning just below her window, and managed to sit Kagome on one knee while opening the window. He helped her swing herself inside and was about to close the window when she stopped him.

"Inuyasha." He looked up at her. "Thank you, so much, for everything today. If you're not doing anything tomorrow, would you like to come over for Christmas dinner? I'd like to thank you properly." His eyes widened in surprise. "You know, unless you have other plans or something," she amended hastily.

"Uh, I don't know..." Kagome smiled.

"Don't be nervous about my family or anything. I'd like you to join us. Please?" Slightly hesitant, he nodded.

"Great!" Through the window, she gave him an awkward hug "And tomorrow is Christmas, so no work, okay?" He nodded in understanding. "I'll see you tomorrow, Inuyasha. Merry Christmas, and thank you."

He grinned a little as she closed the window, and he hopped off the awning, his own gift tucked securely under his arm.

* * *

A/N: The next chapter is probably going to be Inuyasha going over to Kagome's. I am totally out of it with the plot, I really have no idea where this story is going. Which makes it a lot more exciting, to be honest.

The mall mentioned is a real mall— which I do not own. Also, I looked it up, and it seems like it doesn't usually snow that much in Tokyo, so hopefully that part is true. :)

PLEASE give me any ideas, feedback, criticisms, etc. that you have. Personally, I feel as though I am rushing the fluff between Inuyasha and Kagome. Also, I believe that Inuyasha's personality keeps changing in this story. Thoughts? I'd love to hear!

Big thanks to **NekoxUsa **for the fluff idea used in this chapter, about Inuyasha helping Kagome when she's sick. Greatly appreciated! Any more suggestions from any of you, I'd love to hear 'em! Guest reviewer **Unknown,** for the two sweet reviews telling to me to take a break and Merry Christmas in Japanese (both greatly appreciated). And guest reviewer **MissPoo **(interesting name, by the way) for her super kind and epic review.

Again, happy holidays, etc. to you wonderful, wonderful people! I love you all, and I hope I can manage to update soon!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: There reallyyyy isn't any good excuse for me not updating in so long. I guess I had a big lack of inspiration for this one, **_so I'm super sorry about that._**

Thanks to **Kakashi911** and my friend** Mariah** for helping me out with ideas for this chapter! I'm not sure how long it'll take to crank out the next one, so I made this one long for all of you.

Did I mention I made a Tumblr? The URL is** iliveondaydreams, **where anything related to any of my fics will be tagged with the title of the story, exactly how it is spelled and shown. I actually have art, kinda, for this story. It's more of like a visual reference so I know what the store, etc. looks like. Anyone interested in me sticking those up? I legit can't draw, but I have my moments where they look semi-decent-ish.

While I'm at it, I started a new fic revolving around InuPapa and Izayoi in the modern world because I love those two and I felt like it. I'll likely be updating that one faster since I have more inspiration for it, so check that out if you like!

Again, thanks a BUNCH for all of your support, guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but he's still my little baby

* * *

Never in a million years did Inuyasha think he'd come back here— of his own free will, at least. The bad memories associated with this place made him grit his teeth. It disgusted him to no end, this place.

Of course, he was rather desperate now, and it contained the one person he needed to find. With only slight hesitation, he pushed open the heavy doors easily with his demon strength. Designed to keep the average demon from barreling through, it was no such obstacle for him, however.

He approached the well lit front desk with a bit of trepidation. Despite the jaunty Christmas decorations trimming the room, it wasn't bringing his mood up. He steeled himself before clearing his throat and looking at the man behind the desk. "'Scuse me?"

He didn't miss the slight sneer marring the mans face when he did look up. "Ah, so you've returned? What did you in this time?" He made a show of craning his neck to look behind the hanyou. "Oh, no officers? Decided to be a good little half-breed and turn yourself in this time?"

Inuyasha gnashed his teeth together and did his best to keep himself from grabbing the officer by the collar and shaking him until his insides combined. "Look, I just wanna see Sango. Is she around?" He managed through clenched fangs.

"You want Sango now?" The officer sneered. "What for? She's just a stupid girl who's in a high position because her daddy—"

"Inuyasha?" He whirled around to see Sango descending the steps in her uniform and walking rapidly towards the two. "I thought I heard your voice down here. Merry Christmas! Did you want to see me?"

He grunted a little awkwardly. "Merry Christmas to you too, and um, yeah, if you're not busy..." Sango waved him off.

"Are you kidding me? I'm bored as hell. Come on, let's go talk out in the yard." Before she turned to walk away, she locked eyes with the officer behind the desk. "Oh, and Rabou? My father would you like to speak with you in his office." She smiled inwardly when Rabou's face whitened considerably, and watched him as he scurried up the stairs to meet the superintendent supervisor.

"That guy's an asshole," Inuyasha commented offhandedly as he stuffed his hands into his haori sleeves.

Sango grinned wickedly. "What do you think father wants to talk him about?"

Inuyasha smirked. "Serves the bastard right. I mean, look at you." He nodded towards the rather heavily armed Sango, who was carrying several guns and poison powders in her holsters. Two swords were slung behind her back, and a poison-filtering mask dangled from her waistband. "Only in a high position because of your dad, my ass. And so heavily armed on Christmas. Why are you working, shouldn't you have holidays off?"

Sango sighed. "Usually, I don't need all of this, but the demons have been getting rowdier lately. Father said to make sure I'm heavily armed at all times. He won't let me take Hiraikotsu with me right now, though," she grumbled.

"What do 'ya mean?" They began to start walking towards the large open back yard used by the officers to train.

"The prisoners in the demon wards upstairs have been going crazy lately. Trying to break out, jump officers..." Sango ran a hand through her ponytail. "We haven't had one escape yet, but we have to be careful."

"You? I think you can handle any old demon." He gave her a lopsided grin. "Except, you know, me of course." Sango narrowed her eyes and put a hand on the wakizashi behind her back. "I'm armed now, you know."

"So am I," Inuyasha said calmly. "Anyway, that's not what I came to talk to you about. It's um," Inuyasha looked away, slight blush marring his cheeks. "Kinda weird, I guess."

"Is it about Kagome? Are you two together yet?" Sango grinned widely at the hanyou. "Please say yes!"

"No."

"Aw." Sango pouted. "What's this about, then?"

"I don't really, uh," Inuyasha ran his claws through his long silver hair. "I need some advice. See, she invited me over for Christmas dinner with her family, and I don't even know what to do."

He flatten his ears against his head as the officer squealed. "So you two are—!"

"No! No, she just did it because... because she's Kagome!" He turned pleading eyes towards his friend. "I have five hours until I need to be there, just help me."

Sango giggled. "I never thought I'd see the day, Inuyasha. Well, first things first, you can't go over there empty-handed. Bring flowers or food or something."

"That's it?"

"No." Sango put a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Try to dress nicely, you know? Not like, a hakama and kimono nice, but casual nice. Try a button down and slacks."

"...Slacks?"

"Dress pants, you know?"

Inuyasha looked at her blankly. "Why would I have 'dress pants' lying around?" Sango pressed the heel of her palm into her forehead.

"Never mind, just wear clean pants or jeans or something. And shoes! Good shoes. And you know, act polite. To _everyone._" Sango shrugged. "That's probably about it."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. How hard did you think this would be?"

"Keh."

They returned back inside, chatting idly. "If 'ya ever need a hand with the demons, you know where to find me."

Sango scoffed. "I think I can handle it."

* * *

So Inuyasha found himself at a nearby flower shop, purchasing a giant custom made flower basket, filled to the brim with _burūberu's_, _suisen, haibīsukasu, _  
_momoirobara, _and a few _suzuran_. After a moment of thought, he bought a few _rabenda _as well, adding them last minutes because they had the same scent as Kagome.

Inuyasha vaguely thought back to the time his mother, quite fond of flowers herself, sat down an eight year old Inuyasha in the garden and talked through the flowers with him.

_"Did you know that flowers could talk, Inuyasha dear?"_

_"Flowers can't talk, okaa-san."_

_"Of course they can!" Izayoi leaned forward and gently plucked a _panji _from the ground. "This is a _panji, _Inuyasha. It represents thoughtfulness and care."_

_"Ohh," Inuyasha breathed, nodding from where he sat on his shins like mothers, hands folded politely in his lap._

_"And this one, dear, is a _suitopi. _It means 'goodbye'. Do you want to learn more?"_

_Inuyasha nodded eagerly, watching his kind mother with adoring eyes as she taught him the language of flowers._

It was truly one of Inuyasha's favorite memories about his mother. Through the years, he never did forget the meaning of each flower his mother had taught him.

Now at home, he desperately spritzed the flowers with some water to keep them as fresh as possible. They were in no danger of wilting, since so little time had passed, but he could never be too sure.

Now what else had Sango told him to do...?

Inuyasha raided his small closet, throwing out his clothes until he found a pair of plain black pants that were clean and not too horribly casual. He donned a red button-up shirt and his infamous haori before glaring down at his very, _very _small collection of shoes.

None of which were particularly aesthetically pleasing...

Grumbling, he slipped on the most in-tact pair of _geta_ sandals he could find and bounded out his front door.

* * *

It took less than five minutes for Inuyasha to run to the Higurashi Shrine and scale the hundred steps in one fluid leap. He landed right at the doorstep and blinked at it in confusion before retreating back a few steps,

Was he _nervous?_

He didn't get nervous... but then again, he'd never gone to dinner at someone else's house he too early or too late? Kagome never specified a time for him. To Inuyasha, dinnertime was whenever he felt hungry after dark.

He furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his teeth. Inuyasha was not a weak person who backed down from a fight.

Fangs bared and eyebrows taut, he charged forward and knocked hard on the door.

Kagome did not answer the door.

Instead, a woman much older than her opened it with a wide smile. She had short dark hair and wide, sweet eyes, just like Kagome. Though she stood tall, she was still shorter than Inuyasha himself.

"Hello, dear," she said with her smile in place. "You must be Inuyasha, ne? Merry Christmas— I'm Kagome's mother; please, come inside." She moved aside and waved Inuyasha in. Though he didn't notice it, her hands twitched against her will when she saw the ears at the top of his head.

She watched as he carefully took off his sandals and respectfully pushed them to the side before bowing to her. "It's nice to meet you, Higurashi-san. Merry Christmas." he said.

Kagome's mother bowed in return. "You too, Inuyasha-kun. Please remember that tonight, you should feel free to make yourself at home. Won't you have a seat?" She led him over to the couch and sat him down. "Kagome's still getting changed upstairs, so why don't you wait down here for her? Would you like something to drink, dear?"

Inuyasha flushed slightly, a little overwhelmed by the hospitality. "N-no, that's all right. Thank you, Higurashi-san."

Mama Higurashi smiled. "Of course, dear." She turned to leave but was stopped by Inuyasha.

"Wait, um—" Inuyasha scratched his head awkwardly then thrust the large basket of flowers towards her. "These are for you guys." He cursed Sango for not telling him who to hand the flowers to.

Kagome's mother had to stop herself from gigging at Inuyasha's uncomfortable expression and reached up to pat his cheek, surprising him. "Why don't you give them to Kagome when she comes down; I think you'd really catch her off guard." She winked and pointed at the flowers. "These are lovely, by the way. Thank you very much, Inuyasha-kun." With that, she finally left the room.

Inuyasha didn't have to wait long before he heard the door upstairs open and the sound of delicate footsteps make their way to the main floor. "Mama? Has Inuyasha come yet— oh, never mind!" She grinned when she saw Inuyasha already on the couch. "Merry Christmas! Thank you for coming, Inuyasha! You look so nice! Who opened the door? I bet it was Mama, she's always so excited about guests and whatnot—"

Inuyasha effectively shut her up by shoving the flower basket at her. He suppressed a snicker when she sneezed as petals tickled her nose. A few petals fluttered down mixing and contrasting with her multicolored dress.

Kagome raised her eyebrows at the colorful petals fluttering towards her, and lowered the basket from her face. "Inuyasha, what are these flowers for?"

She smiled softly as he blushed and looked down. "For you, and um, your family." He cleared his throat slightly and continued while still not meeting her eyes. "And also to show you that, uh, I don't think I show it, but I really do appreciate you letting me work with you and everything. So, uh, yeah." Kagome grinned and took the basket from him. "Merry Christmas, Kagome."

Kagome placed the basket on the couch and then moved to hug Inuyasha. "You're such a softie," she mumbled.

Inuyasha glared at the top of her head before realizing she couldn't see him. "Keh. Am not." Nonetheless, he hugged her back a little hesitantly, a little alarmed when she didn't let go. "Kagome?"

"Oh, sorry." Kagome let go of him and backed away. "I always forget you're iffy about being touched." She picked up the flowers and looked over them, fingering some of the _rabenda_. "How did you know I loved lavender, Inuyasha?"

Well, he wasn't about to tell her why.

"Sis?" The two turned to see a boy walk through the front door, locking it before he continued to move towards them. He looked not too much younger than Kagome, and he had the same friendly face as Kagome and her mother.

"Hi, Souta," Kagome said warmly as she embraced her brother. He moaned and jokingly shoved her away. "Nee-chan, there are people here," he groaned, looking a little embarrassed at Inuyasha.

"Oh yeah. Souta, this is Inuyasha, my only other co-worker. I told you he was coming over, right?" Souta nodded in affirmation and turned to hold out his hand to Inuyasha.

They shook hands and Souta curiously lifted their interlocked fingers. "Wow, you have wicked looking claws! Are you a demon?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Duh, Souta. Well, half, but he's still got the claws, fangs, hair, and his ears. See?" Kagome reached up to try and tug one of Inuyasha ears, but he predicted her movements and moved out of the way quicker than she could move in. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Kagome's little brother and released his hand in favor of crossing his arms. "Yeah, what of it?"

"Wow, nee-chan, your boyfriend is cool." Inuyasha coughed a little uncomfortably when the kid peered up at him with a probing look.

Kagome, on the other hand, turned a light shade of red. "He's not my boyfriend, Souta, we just work together. He's my friend, and a very sweet one." Taking advantage of Inuyasha's surprised state, she leaned forward and rubbed one of his ears.

Inuyasha sputtered and jumped away from her. "Don't _do _that!"

"Gee, Kagome, all these flowers? You sure he's not your boyfriend?" Souta laughed and jumped away from his playfully angry sister as she chased him around the couch.

Inuyasha watched their antics from the side, looking a little out of place. The day Sesshomaru and him acted like Kagome and Souta would be...

Well, the day wouldn't even _come, _so he didn't have to think of it.

"Oh, Inuyasha, I'm so sorry! How rude of me, you're just standing there. Would you like some Christmas cookies? I'll be right back." Before Inuyasha could protest, she'd run off to join her mother in what he assumed was the dining area.

"So, Inuyasha, what does my sister make you do around that ratty, ancient store of hers?" Souta inquired. They both plopped down on the couch, and Souta turned on the television. Inuyasha remained sitting rather stiffly on the couch, unaccustomed to proper mannerism and unsure of how he should act.

"Move books, tell people where to find shit, all of the stuff she basically did before I came along." Inuyasha half-watched the television and half trained his attention on the sounds of the house. Kagome and her mother were rattling around in the kitchen— clinking knives and plates were caught with every twitch of his ears. "I wouldn't label it as _ancient_, if you don't count that microfiche."

"Nah," Souta said, waving his hand around. "It's been there for like, forty or fifty years. Jii-chan opened it when he was around Kagome's age. Then Dad had taken it over, and now Kagome. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to. She spent most of her day there, to be honest. That's how much she loved it."

"Oh? Did her dad retire?" Come to think of it, he hadn't sensed her father in the house.

"No, he..." Souta swallowed hard, looking down and biting his lip.

"Oh."

Inuyasha wouldn't look at Souta for a long time.

* * *

"So, Inuyasha, why don't you tell us about yourself?" Mama Higurashi asked as she set down a tray with mugs of cocoa onto the main room's table. Kagome followed with a rather large tray of Christmas cookies, and the two of them kneeled opposite Inuyasha and Souta on the floor cushions. Kagome was surprisingly pleased to see that Inuyasha's table manners were rather impeccable. He kneeled with his hands folded on his lap, and the display of politeness brought a smile to Kagome's face.

"There's not really much to tell." His rigid posture prompted Kagome to ask if he was alright. "'Course I am, why wouldn't I be?" He 'keh'ed and turned his head to the side a little.

Souta, she noticed, was also a little upset, it seemed. "Souta?"

"Hmm?"

"Is everything okay?

"Yeah. Yeah, sis, sorry about that." Souta shook his head out before sitting up straighter and reaching for a cookie, snapping it unevenly in half with his teeth quite loudly. "These are good," he mumbled around his full mouth.

Higurashi-san frowned. "Oh, Souta, don't talk with a full mouth in front of our guest." She pushed the cookie platter closer to Inuyasha. "Here, dearie, have one." Complying, he reached forward and hesitantly grabbed a cookie, biting into it. He tried not to wince away from the expectant looks on everybody's faces, instead concentrating on the cookie. It snapped off cleanly, and had a sugary sparkly coating on top. It was sweet, and the icing made it sweeter. He swallowed shakily, unused to such sweet food and licked the corner of his mouth, aware of a tiny red sprinkle stuck there.

He nodded a little. "That was really good." Kagome grinned at him before nabbing a few of the cookies herself, haphazardly shoving them into her mouth. Her mother sighed, but stood from the short table and excused herself. "I have to finish dinner anyways. You three have fun."

"So, Inuyasha," Kagome began. "How has your Christmas been so far?"

"Nothin' special. Talked to Sango a bit, bought flowers, ate a cookie." At that, Kagome giggled and offered the tray to him. "Want more? You can take as many as you want."

"Ahh..." He eyed the platter with apprehension. "No thank you... I'm not really a sugar kind of person."

"Well why didn't you say so, then?" She stood up, a cookie halfway into her mouth. "I'll go find you something!"

"No, it's really okay—"

"Souta, take him upstairs, please? Why don't you show him your room or something until I come up?" Inuyasha found himself being tugged off his shins and onto his feet, towards the direction of the stairs.

"Gotcha, sis!" Souta shouted over his shoulder. He released Inuyasha's hand, knowing he would follow. "Come on, I can show you all of my video games!" Inuyasha walked behind him, feeling rather out of place. What were video games again...?

"Uh, hold on a second." Souta turned on the first step to peer at his companion. "Look, about what I said earlier, I didn't mean to—"

"Oh, that?" Souta waved a hand in the air. "Don't be sorry, it's not like you knew. Otou-san passed away a long time ago, and it's silly of me to get upset every single time he's mentioned. Purely immature on my part." He grinned and stepped up another stair. "Now come on, I want to show you my collection!"

"Souta! To think, you've brought a cursed demon into a holy place such as this!"

Inuyasha cringed at the screechy sound of the voice of the old man who had just appeared at the top of the stairs, rapidly descending them in a funny sort of hobble. "Don't worry, my boy, I'll exorcise him!"

Inuyasha watched, dumbfounded, as the front of his shirt was defiled with a sticky piece of ofuda. Fake ofuda, he might add. He peeled it off with the tips of two claws and held it away from him. "What is this?"

Souta groaned. "Jii-chan, don't you remember? Onee-chan said she was bringing her friend over. She'll be mad if you attack him." He moved past his grandfather, and Inuyasha followed. "It's not like you have any holy power anyways, Jii-chan."

"Of course I do! That demon must be wearing some sort of armor!"

"Jii-chan, he's a half demon."

"Half or full, they're all evil! Pure evil!"

Souta sighed and rushed up the stairs, mumbling an apology to Inuyasha. "Eh, he's a little eccentric, but loveable all the same," he said, cringing as the sound of his grandfather's preaching carried up the stairs. He practically shoved Inuyasha into his room and shut the door behind him.

"Let's play, shall we?"

"Um, believe it not, I don't even know what a video game is..."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I haven't been very, um, up to date for a while..."

"Up to... oh, I get it." Souta smacked his forehead dramatically. "Sorry, I totally forgot. Forgot video games weren't around fifty years ago. Well, maybe they were, but only the really crappy ones." He shrugged. "Who knows?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second... how do you know that I haven't been 'up to date' for fifty years?"

"Oh, that?" Souta didn't bother looking up from his rummaging around through hi video game shelf. "When onee-chan mentioned your name, I thought you sounded familiar, so I looked you up. Turns out you were actually all over the Internet and news for a while." He shook his head sadly. "You missed out on so many good games, Inuyasha-kun."

"Don't call me that," he replied immediately. "Just Inuyasha is fine." He hadn't moved from his spot, hovering near the door with his arms crossed. "So you... you know?"

"Of course I know. Nee-chan said she thought that they were wrong and that you had too much self-worth to do something so mean. I agree with her, to be honest. You're a really cool guy, Inuyasha, you know that?"

"Uh-huh..." He drummed his claws on the bend of one elbow slowly. "So, I... it doesn't bother you at all? I don't scare you." The last question came out sounding like a statement.

Souta guffawed. "Don't be ridiculous. The only things that scare me are my mother, my girlfriend, and people who are better than me at video games." He paused for a moment. "And zombies. But don't tell anyone I said that." He waved a case around in front of him. "This one's pretty easy. I'll teach you how to play." He began to plug the controllers in, and held one out to Inuyasha, raising an eyebrow. "You in?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth, about to decline, when Souta began to speak. "You don't break it, crush it, stab it, and no one cares if you win or lose to tie, as long as you've had fun. I promise, Inuyasha." He gave the controller a shake. "Come on."

With a bit of hesitation, Inuyasha stepped up and cautiously took the controller.

* * *

"Mama?" Kagome ran into the kitchen, immediately beginning to look through the cabinets, opening and slamming them audibly. "Do we have any snacks? Anything not sweet? Turns out Inuyasha's not a big fan of sugar."

"Oh?" She turned around from the bowl she was mixing in, setting the soon across the top of it. "Well, he should have mentioned it. Please have him know he should feel free to speak up in our house. I don't want to accidentally poison the boy next. He's very cute."

Kagome turned red. "Mama!"

"What?"

"Oh, just— never mind." She pulled open the cabinet above the sink and stood on her tip toes, nabbing the bag of potato chips and closing the door. Her mother smiled and went back to stirring whatever it was she was making.

"...Mama?" Kagome asked a little timidly.

"Yes, dear?"

"I need to tell you something about Inuyasha."

"That he's part demon? I know dear, I saw the ears." Kagome smiled a little at her moms thought.

"Uh, no actually. It's actually a pretty big thing, I guess. I don't know how I forgot it." Kagome moved her feet so one foot was partially laying on the other, and she twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it'd not as foreboding as you make it sound." Mama didn't look up from her cooking. "Well, what is it then, Kagome dear?"

"I, uh, don't suppose I ever told you what Inuaysha was up to before he came to work for me?"

"Oh, that?" Kagome's mother sounded surprised. "Kagome, do you think I didn't already know about his records? I do watch the news, you know. Give me some credit."

Kagome spluttered. "So everybody already knows? I did this for nothing?"

"Not nothing. You reminded me to give that boy a hug. He seems like he needs one." She made a shooing motion with her free hand. "Now, go, go on, I won't keep you from him for too long."

"Mama..."

* * *

"Inuyasha no offense, but you're really bad at this."

"Keh! Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate!"

"So am I!"

Kagome had managed to walk in on what appeared to be two twelve year old boys, their eyes reflecting the colors of the screen as they focused on nothign else but the controllers in their hands and the actions on the screen.

Inuyasha noticed her enter first, one ear tilting back towards her as he shifted his body slightly towards the doorway. "Hey Kago— oi! You can't do that!"

"Yes I can! I beat you again!" Souta tossed down his controller and proceeded to hop to his feet, reaching for the bag of chips Kagome held in her arms. She backed away and bonked him on the head with one of her hands. "Inuyasha first, Souta." He pouted, but complied.

"Ya know," Inuyasha began, opening the bag of chips after thanking Kagome, "In real life I could totally kick your ass with a sword."

"Inuyasha! Language!"

"Kagome, I'm not five." Souta snorted. He returned his attention to Inuyasha. "Really? You have a sword?" His eyes shone. "Can I see it?"

"It's not on me. I was, uh, informed that bringing a sword with me into someone's house wasn't my best idea." Inuyasha coughed and looked to the side, finegring the chips in his hand before stuffing them into his mouth,.

"Awww." Kagome swore Souta pouted. "Well, bring it next time, please?"

_Next time? There's going to be a next time?_

"...Sure thing, kid."

Souta grinned and leaped forward to awkwardly hug Inuyasha. "Thanks, Inuyasha! You're the coolest!" He walked out of the room, pausing only to wink at Kagome.

"Souta!" He ran out of the room, shutting the door behind him before his sister could come after him.

Inuyasha tilted his head and looked at Kagome curiously, an ear flopping to the side and the other twitching in her direction. "What's wrong?"

She blushed pink from her chin to her hairline before opening the door and ushering him out. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Just forget it," she grumbled. "Let's go, it's almost dinner time. Mama's waiting for us."

She walked out behind him, but couldn't help but to stop a single thought.

_Mama was right._

* * *

_"_Jii-chan, I hope you haven't harassed Inuyasha," Mama Higurashi said as she laid the dishes out on the table. Jii-chan stood on the side of the room, his fingers laced together behind his back.

"The man is a demon! A demon has been fraternizing with my Kagome!" He shook a fist angrily in the air. "His very aura will taint her and her powers, rendering her useless!"

"Jii-chan! Kagome is not useless without her powers!"

"Rendering her useless against demons!"

"Oh, don't be silly." Mama returned to the kitchen, bringing out another platter and setting it on the center of the table runner. "Inuyasha-kun is a very nice young man, and he treats Kagome well. It's about time she started seeing some nice young man."

"That hooligan is not a nice you—"

"Mama, we're here!" Kagome came down the stairs, preceded by Souta and followed by Inuyasha.

"Mama made fried chicken for us. I don't think it was that popular fifty years ago, but it's kind of a thing on Christmas. Instead of ordering, she made some herself, and it's way better than takeout." Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve and dragged him to the table, sitting him down beside her.

"I had it once," Inuyasha commented offhandedly. "Sango brought me some once during Christmas It wasn't that great, but it was from one of those big companies, she said, so it might not taste as good to me. I think it was because I could taste all the other weird stuff they used in it." Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. "I'm pretty sure the chicken your mother made is better than that crap." Kagome giggled.

"Oh, you bet. Mama's the best cook I know."

"Thank you, dear," Mama said, smiling, as she returned to the dining area and sat down at her down seat. "Shall we eat then? Itadakimasu."

Repeating the phrase, everyone else dug into their dinner. Kagome paused before taking her first bite, instead watching Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. She only ate once she caught the pleasantly surprised expression on his face.

"I hope you like it, Inuyasha-kun. Kagome mentioned you have a sensitive tongue, so I tried not to make it too spicy for you." Mama looked at him. "Is it alright?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "It's really good." He shoveled more food into his mouth, fixated on his plate as though mesmerized by it. Mama laughed.

"I'm so glad that you do, Inuyasha, dear."

He looked up in surprise, the chopsticks halfway to his mouth. Had she just called him...?

"You just tell me if you would like more, alright?" She resumed eating, and left Inuyasha staring at her a little transfixed before digging back into his plate.

"You should not be feeding the demon. You will only provide him with energy for when he—"

"Honestly, Jii-chan, Inuyasha is such a nice guy, he isn't some evil spirit. Leave him alone." Souta snorted at the 'evil spirit' part.

"Yeah, he's really cool. Did you know he has his own sword?" Kagome shook her head frantically at Souta.

"A sword?! He is armed! I'll bet he's with the yakuza, those good for nothings..."

"It's not with me, it's at home. And I'm not in a gang," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Promise you'll come over and show it to me sometime?" Souta's eyes sparkled with fascination.

"Honestly, Souta, you'd think you were only a little kid." Kagome rolled her eyes and lazily plopped the last piece of chicken in her mouth.

"Yeah, sure I'll show you." Inuyasha smiled a little at the boy.

"You're the coolest," Souta proclaimed happily, before finishing his own plate of food.

"I've got the plates, Mama," Kagome said, standing immediately and gathering the plates. Inuyasha glanced at her awkwardly for a minute before standing to help her balance the stack of dishes.

"Oh no, Inuyasha, I've got it, really." But he ignored her words and took half the plates from her, heading towards the kitchen sink. Stunned, Kagome followed suit. He had set the plates into the sink already and turned to take hers from her arms before she set them down.

"You''re so sweet, Inuyasha. You really didn't have to, you're the guest." She reached up and poked his cheek. "But thank you nonetheless."

Inuyasha blushed. "Feh. I'm not sweet, Kagome, that just sounds weird." He wrinkled his nose. "I don't even like sweet stuff."

"Oh, that reminds me! Mama baked a Christmas cake, you know? With strawberries and sponge cake?" Inuyasha shook his head, unfamiliar with it. "Well, she did. I should bring it out now." She opened the fridge and leaned down to pull it out. "Um, would you eat it? You said you didn't like sweets, but this cake is less sweet than the cookies."

Inuyasha shrugged a shoulder. "Sure I will. I don't want to disappoint your mother." He moved to carry the cake for her, but she pulled back at the last second and grinned, laughing as she spun on her heel and skipped back into the dining area. His eyebrow twitched a little, but so did the corner of his mouth as he walked back where everyone else remained seated.

Kagome clapped her hands together. "Well then, who wants cake?"

* * *

It was nearing ten at night, and the day had darkened hours ago. The moon shone brightly down on the courtyard of the shrine; Kagome could see it clearly from her vantage point at the front window. She turned back and sat on the couch next to Inuyasha, handing him a glass of the apple cider her mother had given her.

"Here," she said, giving it to him. "Before you leave, drink it. It'll warm you up." She sipped from her own glass and leaned back into the soft couch. Inuyasha's cheeks tinted from her slight proximity. Her eyes were half lidded and her head was lolling a little to the side. Setting down his own mug, he propped her up straight before standing and clearing his throat.

"It's getting late now, Kagome. Thanks for um, inviting me over and stuff, you know," he said, scratching the back of his head. "It was... nice of you."

"Oh, are you leaving already?" Her voice sounded fatigued.

"It's two hours until midnight. I should be going now. Besides, you're half-asleep." He indicated her form with his chin. "You want me to take you upstairs before I go?"

"No, no," Kagome protested, yawning. "I'm fine, really. I'll walk you out then, at least." She stood and sleepily hobbled over to the front door, Inuyasha following behind her. Her vision was cloudy from the sleepiness, and she was pleasantly surprised when Inuyasha held her shoulder to help her balance as she unlocked the door. She slumped onto him in her attempt at a goodbye hug, and Inuyasha awkwardly held her upright, patting her back a few times before letting go and stepping outside. The frigid night air blew his hair up then released it.

"Goodnight, Kagome. Merry Christmas." He smiled a little and her and turned to walk home, but just before he did, he felt a tug on his hair. He looked back just in time for Kagome to tip-toe and kiss him very lightly on the cheek before yawning loudly and stumbling back upstairs.

"'Night, Inuyasha."

He stood there, stunned and spluttering, for all of three seconds before Souta appeared out of thin air and clapped him on the back. "Haven't seen Kagome kiss anyone in a while! Nice going, Inu-onii-san!" He, too, then darted up the stairs to go to sleep.

Kagome's mother rounded the corner into the living room, grinning inwardly at his stunned and shell-shocked expression. "I hope you know you're welcome here anytime, Inuaysha dear. Have a good night, now." Jii-chan, coming to stand behind her, grumbled and waved a hand uncaringly in his direction before walking off with Mama.

His eye slightly switching, Inuyasha's feet fumbled as he made his way out of the shrine, remembering at the last second to close the door before before deciding to walk home, not run.

His hand came to cup his cheek gently before dropping it back down.

He didn't know it, but his face was the oddest shade of pink for the remainder of the night.

* * *

A/N: _Me and my crappy attempts at humor._

So I stumbled upon _hanakotoba, _which is the Japanese interpretation of the language of flowers Using that, I picked out the flowers that Inuyasha presents to Kagome and her family.

Buruberu (bluebells) - grateful

Suisen (daffodil) - respect

Haibisukasu (hibiscus) - gentle

Momoirobara (pink rose) - trust/happiness

Suzuran (lily of the valley) - sweet

Rabenda (lavender) - faithful

Bear in mind, I used Wikipedia/Internet for this, so correct me on these if they're wrong.

These were based on Inuyasha's feelings towards Kagome. I didn't want to stick some meaningless red roses or Christmas poinsettia in there. That's just me.

Yes, Inuyasha is kinda OOC in this chapter. I wanted to make him all mannered and stuff for the first time at Kagome's house, and also 'cause Sango told him to be mannerly. Don't worry, I love uncouth and impolite Inuyasha as much as the next person. It'll come in soon, kinda.

Ugh, I gotta put Miroku and Shippo back into this somehow. I keep forgetting the other characters and I am so sorry. Miroku and Shippo are my little babies.

Guys, remember to tell me any ideas and comments or whatever you have on this fic, no matter how harsh it may seem! Even grammar corrections, honestly, 'cause I almost never re-read these. I love hearing from you, and I try to respond to each and every one of your reviews! I'm so close to a hundred and I AM SO EXCITED.

Again, thanks everyone! I love you all and really look forwrad to hearing your criticisms and comments on this chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This is really awkward I could have sworn I updated like a month ago. Turns out it's been like, three. Ugh please come yell at me if I do this again. It's summertime, so I'll probably update faster next time (lol). Shoutout to **VEENA4** for egging me on! You rock on! So here's a chapter that's kind of long? The content itself is only about five thousand words. I thought it was six, but that was the word-counter being all wonky.

I have a severe lack of inspiration for this story, mostly about the plot. Fluff is easy, but plot is more difficult than I thought it would be. HUGE thank you to user **Rory Maria** (that's the username!) for giving me some cool ideas for the plot in this chapter! She's got a new story called _The Real You_, and it's a super awesome MirSan fic you've just got to read! Like I can't even express how great it is, she's such an amazing writer omg, and this fic is a breath of fresh air, ah yes, yes it is.

And if you ever miss me, I'm a lot more active on my Tumblr, which is linked on my bio! I love talking to you guys, seriously, so hit me on there, or send me a PM here!

Disclaimer: I (don't) own Inuyasha!

* * *

"Would you believe I've never tried this?" Kagome asked, peering down over the second floor railing of _Shikon_, and the first floor which suddenly seemed farther away than she remember it was. She straightened her arms, and raised herself up so her toes dangled millimeters off the ground before lowering herself back down. "It seems a little reckless."

Inuyasha cracked an eye open from his usual reclining position against the wall on the railing. "S'not as scary as you think it is, just do it."

She huffed. "Easy for you to say, you jump off buildings like you're jumping off the bottom step." Nonetheless, she warily looked back down at the ground before swinging her right leg over the railing, letting it dangle over the side. She was suddenly very glad she had dressed in pants that day.

Hesitantly balancing herself as she let the other leg come off the ground, she straddled the railing. "What if I fall? The hard floor does not look very forgiving."

Inuyasha snorted. "That's what I'm here for, now quit being a baby and just _do_ it."

She glared at him, bur swallowed her fear and, bracing herself with her hands between her legs, mustered her courage and maneuvered the left leg over the side, too, though much slower and with more trepidation.

"See? You did it, now calm down and relax." Indeed, her hands gripped the railing so tightly that the knuckles turned white, and her legs remained stiffly spread apart, as though trying to hug themselves to the railing.

"But what if I overbalance and just face-plant or something?"

"For crying out loud, woman," Inuyasha grumbled. He scooted sideways to sit next to her and pulled her arms off the railing and sat her farther back on the railing. "There, you'll be fine. It was your idea, anyways." Kagome pouted, but finally raised her eyes off the ground to focus on his face instead.

"I'll never understand how you're so casual about this, Inuyasha."

"Keh, it's the demon blood, nothing else to it." Kagome grinned at his statement, leaning over to catch one of his ears in her hand.

"You're just like a cat, you know that?" Kagome giggled as Inuyasha sputtered angrily.

"C-cat? What the hell?"

"You like high places, good balance, you sit in the sun..."

"I'm a DOG!"

"Hey, you said it, not me."

His eye twitched and he grumbled under his breath. He reached up to snatch her hand off his ear and then twitched it, just to spite her. She stared at it for a second before lunging for it with her other hand, which too, was caught. Inuyasha's ears twitched again, this time after catching the sound of footsteps inside the store.

"Hello? Kagome-sama! Are you in here?"

Having not noticed the person before, Kagome started at the booming voice and lurched to the right, tumbling off the railing towards the ground. Inuyasha, still holding on to her, went with her, and used his agility to touch down before her and slowly lower his suspended boss to the ground by her wrists.

Panting loudly to catch her breath, Kagome glared at him. "I am never doing that again!"

Inuyasha snorted. "It was going fine until this loser showed up and scared you half to death,' he said, jerking his head towards Miroku, who had entered the store moments before. Miroku smiled innocently, unknowing of the fright he'd just caused Kagome.

"Hello, you two! I ah, hope I didn't interrupt anything." He raised an eyebrow at their holding hands, and they jerked apart, Kagome mumbling a barely audible '"thank you" under her breath.

"What brings you here, Miroku?" Kagome asked, her smile back in place.

He sighed and ran a hand back through his hair, stopping to tug on his short ponytail. "Ah, nothing in particular, just stopping by. It seems it has been a while. How were your holidays?"

"Oh, they were fine! Inuyasha here came over for Christmas dinner, so we had fun together." Kagome gestured to Inuyasha, who blushed slightly and looked away.

"The two of you had fun together, huh?" Miroku managed to evade the oncoming fist by sheer luck.

Inuyasha growled, his hand still up. "With her family, idiot!"

Kagome glared at her friend from behind Inuyasha. "Really, Miroku-sama, you ought to stop assuming things. How were your holidays, then?"

"Ah, not too eventful. I stayed at home and had Hachi and Shippo over for a few days. Hachi's still there, and Shippo left the day after New Year's." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Aside from that, nothing much. No jobs, no commotion— guess even youkai take a break on Christmas."

"You know that Shippo brat, too?" Inuyasha asked.

"Of course. Kagome-sama introduced the two of us. I asked him if he would have liked to come over for Christmas and he said yes."

"Oh, that's what it was!" Kagome tapped a finger on her chin. "I asked Shippo if he wanted to come over for Christmas, but he said he was busy. I guess that was what he meant."

"Oh, ah, I guess I forgot to mention it to you." Kagome played with a lock of her hair nervously. "Shippo's parents passed away when he was rather young, actually. He stays in a home for orphaned youkai, but he usually comes over on holidays to spend them with us instead of the people at the home. It's a touchy subject for Shippo, so be careful mentioning that around him, okay?"

Inuyasha's wide eyes blinked in surprise. "Uh, okay."

Miroku frowned. "No one had mentioned to me his parents passed away. I assumed he lived with them and got permission to sleep over. What happened to them?"

"It's strange actually," Kagome began. Inuyasha twitched an ear over to hear, catching the odd tone in her voice. "They were supposedly murdered with Shippo in the house, but never found the guilty party. The cops were trying to get clues out of Shippo but he never talks about it." Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. "All the more reason they want to bother him about it, but he'd appreciate it if you guys didn't talk about this in front of him."

"Of course, Kagome-sama, you have my word," Miroku said with a smile, raising his clothed right hand to confirm his sincerity.

Inuyasha, however, crossed his arms in retaliation. "Why doesn't he just go out and fix the problem himself? He should get his vengeance, he doesn't have to tell anyone else what was going on."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "Inuyasha, nothing is as simple as that. Shippo's still young, and we don't even know for sure he knows who killed them. You shouldn't force blood onto young hands." She put a hand on his crossed arms and shook him a little to make sure he was listening. "I don't want to hear you ever say anything like that to little Shippo, you hear me?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but nodded once anyways.

"And oi, bouzu." Miroku looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Why's your hand all wrapped up?" Miroku looked surprised but raised it up so he could see.

"This? I thought you saw, back when we were fighting that youkai painter with the strange ink." Miroku twisted his hand around back and forth for a full view.

"No, he was passed out from the smell, remember? Right before you used it," Kagome interjected. Inuyasha looked back and forth between them.

"Used what? His _hand_?"

"Yes, well, it's a little hard to explain without showing, but I can't very well show you indoors or in public. It's a strange little curse that had been placed upon the men in my family. A hole in our right hands that sucks in everything, like a black hole, if you will. The rosary tames its power, and the cloth masks it from view." He lowered his hand and subconsciously rubbed it with his left.

Inuyasha looked more confused. "How is that a curse? Sounds like a weapon if you ask me."

Miroku smiled grimly at him. "Because, friend, in a few years, the power will grow beyond my control and it will swallow me."

Inuyasha seemed thrown off for a moment before shrugging it off. "Can't you just break it? All curses can be broken."

"That may be so, but it's never easy. In this case, I must kill the one who placed the curse on my lineage. I have no idea as to who they are, aside from the fact that they must be a demon, seeing as how they've been alive all these years since the curse persists."

"Miroku-sama's been trying to track him down for a while," Kagome piped in. "He even found some records or something from when his grandfather was alive after he'd been cursed. Tell him, Miroku-sama."

Miroku sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "Yes, some scrolls depicting a demon who could shift his form. He took on the appearance of some beautiful young woman to fool my grandfather. That was the only thing of him I know, and that demon could look like anything now."

Inuyasha snorted. "Just don't fall into the arms of any pretty young girl and you'll be fine." Miroku smiled winningly. "Me? How could I?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You need to learn a thing or two about tact."

"Why Kagome-sama, how could you accuse me of—"

"Oh, fucking save it, bouzu," Inuyasha grumbled. "Come on, Kagome and I have work to do."

* * *

Inuyasha sneezed. "What the fuck?"

Kagome gave him a sharp look. "Inuyasha, what have I told you about cursing like that in here?"

He shook his head. "No, you don't understand, the most _disgusting_ stench is approaching and whoever it is will burst in right about—"

"KAGOME!"

"—now." Inuyasha's eye twitched as he looked at the strange, and apparently horrid-smelling, man that has just burst in through the doorway.

"Oh, him? That's just Kouga-kun, he's no one to worry about. He can just be a little, eh, pushy and forward sometimes." Right at the end of her statement, she found herself swept up into a hug behind the counter. "See?"

The eye-twitching resumed as Inuyasha watched the unfamiliar demon-man hug his boss.

"Hey, Kagome," Kouga said in a casual tone. "It's been a while, how have 'ya been?" He had let go of her, but remained holding on to her hands between them.

"Oh, just fine. The usual, you know. Work has been a lot less stressful ever since I hired Inuyasha!" She gently pried her hands out of Kouga's grip and gestured to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, this is Kouga, and Kouga, this is Inuyasha, my newest employee."

Kouga's sharp, blue-eyes gaze fell upon Inuyasha, giving him a look-over. "Che, I'd know this mutt anywhere. "You were that rotten son-of-a-bitch who murdered his own—"

"Kouga-kun!" Kagome stared at him in disbelief. "How could you? Inuyasha deserves the benefit of the doubt from you, especially since you don't even know him."

Inuyasha sneered at the wolf-demon. "Keh, 'ya looking for a fight, wolfie? I'll take you on."

Kagome thumped him on the back of his head. "Inuyasha, don't you start, too."

Kouga shook his head, and his long ponytail swished from side to side at the movement. "Dunno why you hired this half-brained dog when you had me. I'd do anything for you, Kagome, you know that." At the last sentence, his voice turned sultry-sweet and he motioned to take her hands again. Kagome gingerly moved her hands away before they touched and clasped them tightly in front of her.

"Thanks, Kouga-kun, but I need a full-time employee. You have a busy life, too, and Inuyasha here is perfect for the job."

"I doubt that," Kouga muttered under his breath. Inuyasha's head jerked to the side and he stared Kouga down, his eyes seemingly glowing with anger. Kouga smirked at him, and to spite him further, grabbed Kagome by her clasped hands and jerked her out from behind the counter. She squeaked and stumbled out behind him.

"It's still cold out, Kagome, you really ought to turn the heat up. I don't want my woman to catch a cold." With that, Kouga wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as they walked away from Inuyasha, who was practically seething by the counter. The white-haired demon knew for a fact that Kagome wasn't cold indoors, despite her short-sleeved attire, as he had asked and made sure she was warm enough.

And what had he just called Kagome?

"Oi!" He hollered, marching behind them. "What did you just call her?"

Kouga grinned widely, showing off his fangs. "Why, didn't you know? Kagome here is my woman." Kagome, on the other hand, had a tired expression on her face. She sighed and removed the arm around her shoulders.

"While I'm uh, flattered by your sentiments, Kouga, I'm really not your woman. And it's not polite to go around proclaiming women that like they're your possessions without their consent," Kagome explained.

"But I don't 'go around' saying that, I only do it to you."

"And I most certainly am not your possession, nor have I given you my consent to call me that..."

Inuyasha stifled a laugh at the pouty look on Kouga's face. Kouga noticed, and glared at him.

"Well, you're not mutt-face's woman either, are you?"

"I'm not anybody's woman!"

"Good enough for me. Come on, Kagome, let's go catch up. S'been a while since we talked." He walked off with her again, his arm re-secured tightly around her shoulders as he led her away from Inuyasha. Inuyasha gritted his teeth and dug his claws into his sleeves.

Miroku, who had been watching the exchange quietly from a nearby shelf, came over and nudged Inuyasha. "That, my friend, is is Kouga Matsuoka. Don't know him too well myself, just that he's been after Kagome-sama for as long as I can remember. He's pretty persistent that way."

Inuyasha grunted. "Seems like a half-brained wolf loser to me. Why does Kagome tolerate him? She doesn't like him back, does she?"

Miroku shrugged. "Not in the romantic sense, that's for sure. I think he's just too good a friend for Kagome-sama to let down hard. She's been trying to do it gently, but he won't take the hint. It actually gets really pathetic after a while."

"He's been pathetic from the start."

"Indeed." Miroku grinned. "Well, if you are after her yourself, I'd say you have a better chance than Kouga. She sure seems to like you better."

"Probably because I don't go around announcing to the world that she's my property."

"That's likely... one of the reasons. Not the one I was thinking of, but a valid reason nonetheless."

"Keh, if I were her, I sure wouldn't trust that guy."

Miroku waved him off. "Kouga's nothing if not a little clueless when it comes to this matter. He's quite harmless, actually, unless you go picking a fight with him, which I advise you don't."

"Why, cause he's full youkai and I'm half?" Inuyasha turned his nose up. "I could kick his scrawny ass any day!"

"I'm sure you could, however, that would not sit too well with Kagome-sama. Understand?" Miroku quirked an eyebrow as the hanyou begrudgingly nodded. They both watched as Kouga began leading Kagome up the stairs, while he chatted and she nodded, only half-listening as she opted for surreptitiously checking out the condition of her shelves instead. Kouga never noticed, animatedly talking and staring straight ahead with a wide smile.

"Clueless, indeed," Miroku murmured.

* * *

"Ja, well, I'm off." Sango turned at the sound of the voice, seeing one of the newer officers, Byakuya, slipping his coat on and flicking off the switch for the light over his desk. He flashed her a grin, the light reflecting off of one of his sharp fangs. "See ya tomorrow, Sango-san."

"Wait!" Sango called. Byakuya stopped, turning around. "I didn't see you come upstairs, where were you?"

"Hmm? I was just in the file room. I had to put away the folder from that new case assigned, that mass murder up in northern Tokyo." He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Is that all?"

"Ah, yes, sorry to keep you. Have a good night, Byakuya-san." Sango smiled a little sheepishly and waved.

"The same to you, Sango-san." Without another word, Byakuya exited the office, blending into the night's colors.

Sango bristled. Though he wasn't the first demon to work for their division of the police, something about his aura was off-putting. The way he emerged from the shadows when she thought she was alone, and how coolly he acted about whatever cases they were assigned.

She thought back to his answer to her question. Down in the file room, where archives and current cases were filed? Glancing at the block, she decided she had enough extra time for a trip downstairs.

The entire building was near deserted, save for herself a few other officers who were likely upstairs. The basement door was locked, indicating it was indeed unoccupied. She pulled out her large key chain and let herself downstairs.

It was almost pitch black, the only light coming in was from a small window near the stairs leading down. Sango detached the small flashlight at her hip and turned it on, swiveling it left and right so she could see her path down the stairs.

The file room was the second door on the left of the long hallway. Sango placed the flashlight in her mouth as she fumbled around for the proper key to enter. Inside, the room itself was large, several marked shelves and bookcases created a small maze for her to maneuver.

She moved towards the newer files kept on the right, and indeed, the latest case for the mass murder was present right where it should have been. Upon taking it out for more inspection, she saw a new sheet of notes, with Byakuya's initials on the bottom corner. Indeed, he hadn't been lying.

She swiveled the light around, making sure nothing else looked out of place before turning to the door to leave.

Sango paused with her hand over the doorknob, biting her lower lip in thought. She had been nagging herself to take a second look at Inuyasha's file all week, but had never gotten the chance to actually do so. With a quick glance at her watch, she made her mind up.

The farthest corner of the file cabinet had the older cases on record, and she made a beeline for them. It had been a while since she, or anyone, for that matter had probably looked at it, and it took her a while to find it.

Once she did, she opened it on the nearby table, leaning over it with her flashlight in her mouth, both her hands busy with flipping through the file and moving pages. It was all the same, the same accusations, evidence, both in favor of the guilty and innocent side.

She grimaced as she came across the photograph taken of a posthumous Kikyo, on her stomach so the claw marks on her back were exposed for the photo evidence. She shook her head, expression tightening in pity for the woman who had died.

Kikyo... a woman believed to have been killed by her lover, Inuyasha. The evidence supported it, but Sango would not bring herself to ever believe a man like Inuyasha could ever be capable of such a thing.

With a sad shake of her head, Sango moved to flip the picture over before something caught her eye. Furrowing her eyebrows, she leaned in closer for a better look at the photo.

There, before her very eyes, the marks on Kikyo's back began to move.

Sango gasped through her teeth, which were still clenched around her flashlight. She dropped the photo back into the folder as though it were as hot as fire and shut it with a loud _smack_.

Chills raced up her spine. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure she was alone.

She clutched the files close to her chest and spun around, swinging the flashlight around frantically, not seeing anything or anyone in the shadows. She swallowed and forced a laugh at her own paranoia before glancing back down at the folder in her arms.

Were her own eyes playing tricks on her?

Sango shook her head fervently, as though to clear her thoughts. She had to make sure. Closing the file drawer, she took Inuyasha's folder with her and exited the file room, locking the door tightly behind her and running up the stairs.

From the dark shadows at the bottom of the stairs, two purple eyes glinted with amusement before vanishing.

* * *

Kagome whistled to no particular tune as she swept the ground floor, her hair swishing behind her in time with her movements. The day had begun to draw to a close, with only a few minutes left until closing. The store was deserted save for Inuyasha, herself, and Miroku, who had decided to hang around for the day. Inuyasha was doing his usual night job, which was re-shelving fallen and misplaced books and grumbling to himself while doing so.

The entirety of the day had been serene and rather uneventful, as it usually was. Miroku's presence had driven off more than one female customer, which resulted in a firm scolding courtesy of Kagome. He had apologized profusely by taking all three of them out during their lunch break for food, despite Kagome's protests. In the end he had ended up sneaking his money into the checkbook while distracting Kagome.

Now he was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the second level, pretending to read a book and hoping not to incite Kagome's wrath further.

Miroku was jolted out of his fake book-reading when he heard a strange _thump-_ing sound coming from below. He placed the book down on the floor and scooted forward, grabbing on the railing and peering down through them at the scene on the first floor.

A young woman had burst in, slightly pale faced and out of breath. Kagome was standing at the door, awkwardly holding it open as she watched the stranger run up to Inuyasha and shove a piece of paper into his face. Curious, he carefully put the book back into it's proper place and stood, heading slowly down the stairs to see what the commotion was about.

"— sounds crazy but just look at it! Tell me something isn't seriously off about this picture, please tell me I'm not just going crazy!" The woman protested, shaking the sheet under Inuyasha's nose. The hanyou grabbed it from her hands and brought it to his own eyes. Upon realizing what it was, he gritted his teeth and lowered his hand.

"Sango, why the hell are you showing me this? Do you think it's something I want to see?"

Kagome had closed the door and walked over behind Sango, gingerly hovering nearby as though she didn't know if she should jump in or not.

"Kagome-sama?" Kagome turned and looked at Miroku, who was quickly approaching her. "Who is that woman?"

"Hmm? That's Inuyasha's friend, Sango. I just met her recently. Guess she came here to talk to Inuyasha. Not so sure exactly what about, though." She frowned, looking at the two, who were now huddled over the sheet.

"Ah, I see. Just Inuyasha's friend... is she single then?"

"Miroku-sama. She's a cop. Don't even think about it."

Miroku laughed sheepishly. "What on Earth makes you think—"

"Please just quit before you dig yourself in deep," Kagome deadpanned, rolling her eyes. She ignored him and marched forward to where Inuyasha and Sango stood. "Hey guys? Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure," Inuyasha mumbled, gnawing on the corner of his bottom lip with a fang. "C'mere for a sec, and take a look at this photo, would you? Anything seem strange about it?"

"Photo?" Kagome took the sheet and frowned at it. It was the unclothed back of a young woman, four brutal and un-bandaged, but clean, wounds visible on her back. Not seeing anything odd, Kagome peered closer.

All at once, the marks began to move.

With a startled shriek, she dropped the picture, and no one made a move to grab it. "W-what was that?!"

Miroku picked up the dropped photograph and rubbed the corner with his fingers, squinting when he, too, began seeing the movement. "I'm not detecting any sort of magic behind it. But it doesn't seem to be stopping."

"Huh? What do you mean, not stopping?" Sango came to peer over his shoulder. Indeed, the wounds seem to continue moving around, forming odd shapes.

"It looks almost like it's trying to become something, but I don't know what on Earth is possibly causing it to move." Miroku glanced up at Inuyasha. "Is this what I think it is?"

Inuyasha grunted in affirmation. "Evidence photo. And just so you know, that wasn't—"

Miroku held up a hand in a placating gesture. "Kagome-sama has explained your... situation to me once before, and just so you know, I completely agree with her stance. I see no reason to believe that you were responsible for any of this." Hearing this, Inuyasha visibly calmed, but remained silent.

"Hm." Kagome came to stare over Miroku's other shoulder. "You know, it almost looks like a spider. Creepy."

"A spider?" Sango asked. "What does that— wait, I can see it, too!"

"Eh? I'm not seeing any spider," Inuyasha said. Miroku turned the photo sideways so Inuyasha could get a better look. Together, they inspected the crudely moving wounds, which were melding with each other as the skin seemed to slither around.

"Look, see, this would be the body," Kagome said, pointing. "And these eight— spiders have eight legs— would be it's legs."

"That is incredibly disturbing." Miroku wrinkled his nose. "I don't understand, it's plain paper, no electricity, it must be some sort of jyaki or reiki moving it but I can't sense any. It must be masked, I don't know what else to tell you. Can someone please take this? It's freaking me out a bit."

"I've got it." Sango snatched the photo away from him. "It's late, so I should probably return this to wherever I got it from before someone notices it's missing. I'm definitely going to have to take another look. Inuyasha, do you mind if I show this to my father? He'll want to know what's going on."

Inuyasha shrugged indifferently, but his expression clearly showed his concern. "Yeah, just be careful, don't go waving that thing around at strangers."

Sango cracked a small smile. "Yeah, I know, it's just a little hard to see and believe, huh?" She turned to look at Miroku. "Hey you, you said there wasn't any kind of demonic or holy energy on it, right?"

Miroku looked a little surprised. "No, not that I can tell."

Sango huffed and held the picture away from her. "Here's hoping it doesn't attack me on the way back," she joked.

"Would you like an escort?" Miroku chimed in eagerly.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Sango gave him a suspicious look. He sounded just a little _too _eager. "Well, I'm off, then. Thanks for your input guys, it means a lot. I didn't mean to barge in when you were about to close," she said, directing the statement towards Kagome, who shook her head.

"Don't even worry about it, Sango!"

"See you later, Inuyasha, Kagome, and uh," she blinked at Miroku. "I never caught your name."

"I'm Miroku, fair lady, pleasure to meet you." He smiled as charmingly as he could and held a hand out for her to shake, which she took very gingerly and shook up and down once.

"Sango, and likewise." She gave him a small smile before moving to hug Kagome, then Inuyasha. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Kagome called enthusiastically after her, while Inuyasha nodded and waved. Miroku watched her with bright eyes as she walked out the door. Once she was out, Inuyasha turned on him.

"Just a warning, she's a cop." Miroku laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"So I've been told."

"And she's got me for a friend, so don't try anything funny." He gave Miroku his best warning glare.

"No worries, I wouldn't dream of it."

Under her breath, Kagome vaguely mumbled something about lying perverts.

"What was that, Kagome-sama?"

"Nothing!" She smiled perkily. "So, what do you guys make of that photo?"

Miroku shrugged. "It's most likely someone's messing with it but their jyaki or reiki is masked. Could be an illusion, too, I guess, that had a masked aura as well. I can't think of any other plausible reason that all four us could see the same thing."

Kagome nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense. Inuyasha, how about you?"

Inuyasha glowered and inhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. "I think," he began, "that I'd like to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! I, uh, hope this was good, or mildly pleasing. If not, come yell at me with suggestions to improve it! I really do love hearing your opinions on my stories, and I will try to respond to each review! If I haven't from the last chapter, that's my own fault, I'll get to it, soon!

And hey, if you guys ever need fics to read, I've compiled a Fic Rec list on my Tumblr, it's linked on the left side of my page on Tumblr. And if you guys ever want recs, well, I'm no expert, but I'll be happy to help! I love recommending fics like it's a chance for me to gush over their awesomeness.

Thanks for reading, as always!


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